So Now You're Back
by Stephycats7785
Summary: Mandy and Lip dated before he left for school. Lip comes home from college to find a surprise. Mandy was pregnant and never got the chance to tell him. When Lip wants to be a part of his daughters life and get Mandy back, what will she do?
1. Chapter 1

**Title: So Now You Are Back**

**Rating: M**

**Pairing: Mandy/Lip, Mandy/Tony and Mickey/OC**

**Summary: Lip comes home from college to find a surprise. Mandy was pregnant and never got the chance to tell him. When Lip wants to be a part of his daughters life and get Mandy back, what will she do?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anyone or anything from Shameless!**

Flashback:

This would be the last time that Mandy and Lip would be able to see each other until Christmas break. He was leaving for college in the morning and he really wanted to make tonight special. He had already done the big goodbye dinner with his family and they would be driving him to the bus station in the morning. Tonight was supposed to be for just he and Mandy.

As he watched her walk around the hotel room and light all the candles one by one, he wondered if he would be able to gather the courage to tell her he loved her. Or perhaps he would just chicken out like he had all the times before. He never could seem to get the words out.

She had to know how he felt though. He made it pretty fucking obvious to everyone who knew him. A perfect example would be the fact he had dished out money for this hotel room. Everybody knew Lip Gallagher didn't dish out this kind of cash for just any girl. Yet he had wanted it to be special and that is why he didn't just go to her place or bring her to his.

When the last candle flickered to life with a flame, Lip wrapped his arms around her from behind. He spun Mandy around and pressed his lips down firmly on hers. The bass of the music from the next room over casting a sexual mood in and already sexual situation. The oldest Gallagher male let his lips mold against hers.

Mandy propped herself up on the dresser and wrapped her legs around his waist. His hands rested on her thighs and squeezed roughly just the way she liked it. "Aren't you gonna miss this? Miss me? When you're off studying you could be fucking me."

Lip smirked against her pulse point and nibbled on the flesh there. "We have Christmas break and every break after that to catch up. Besides, we talked about this before Mandy. This is my one shot at making something of my life. I'm smart enough to do something and I need to take advantage of that. Anyways, you will be joining me next year at the University if you get accepted. A year is going to be nothing."

His brunette girlfriend bit her bottom lip and shook her head. "You know college is not my kind of thing. I barely pass now and you honestly believe that I am going to get accepted in to a decent college?"

"I will help you pass. You can cheat off of me." He replied and pulled her shirt over her head. Her top half only covered by a black lacy bra.

"You're terrible." Mandy smiled and ran her hands threw his hair.

The conversation ended there because in the next moment they were kissing again. Lip had lifted her off the dresser and moved them to the bed. Both Mandy and Lip bounced a bit when they landed on the soft mattress. Her laugh causing him to chuckle as well. At least they were not caught by Fiona this time. That had been ten degrees of embarrassing.

Her hands went up and under his shirt to trace the outline of his abs. She grabbed his bottom lip with her teeth while she left feather light touches on his chest. She loved Phillip Gallagher more than she had loved anyone else. To be truthful, she had _never _loved anyone before him. Now he was leaving and a part of her was terrified. She had just only found him and tomorrow he would be gone.

It's not that she didn't want him to get a college degree. It was more the fact that he would get out and see the world. What if he decided that he liked the world out there more than he liked life with her? What if he met some girl genious? Would he realize Mandy was not as special as he liked to tell her she was?

Lip had fears that were a little bit different. What if she met someone else while he was away? Would Mandy really want a long distance relationship? What if she decided that it wasn't worth it. What if she resented him for leaving her behind? Could the feelings they shared really endure the struggles ahead?

Helping her take off his own shirt, he tossed it to the floor and grabbed one of her thighs and wrapping it around his waist. One of his hands traveling from her knee all the way up to her hip bone. Her soft pink lips molding against his as if they were designed to do exactly that. As if they were designed for him alone to kiss and nobody else.

Without breaking their passionate embrace, Lip helped her to slide off her skirt and thong. She re payed the favor by helping him with his jeans. When they were both undressed, she gripped his hair tightly. Her dirty blond haired boyfriend broke away from the kiss to suckle on one of her nipples. His free hand gently kneading the other breast. She arched her back and groaned.

"I love you LIp." She murmured and that was enough to have him inside of her.

Lip removed his mouth from her breast to bury his face in her collarbone. He thrust his hips with a steady and slow rhythm. "I love you so fucking much Mandy."

Had he really just admitted to loving her? Mandy Milkovich couldn't believe he had said that. He never had spoken the words before now. Mandy she was hearing things? Or maybe he finally trusted her enough to know she would never pull a Karen on him. Her reaction to his words were for her finger nails to dig deep in to the flesh of his shoulders.

Their panting got louder as they got closer to the edge. Both of his hands now grasping her hips while her hands remained firmly on the back of his shoulders. Lip placed one of her legs over his shoulder and because of that, he managed to go deeper inside of her. It was not much longer until they both came with a shudder.

He collapsed next to her and moved her sweat soaked hair from her face. He kissed her forehead quickly and wrapped his arm around her waist. She pulled the sheet up to cover them before curling against his side. Mandy let her head rest against his chest.

"Love you Mandy." He told her before the two of them let sleep overtake them both.

If only they could've known the events of the future before hand. Maybe things would have turned out better for everyone involved. Or perhaps it was fate and nothing they could have done would've changed anything.

End flashback

The shiny yellow cab pulled up in front of Fiona Gallagher's house. A dirty blond male stepped out and took a deep breath. "It's good to be home."

**AN: So this is the first chapter to my Mandy/Lip multi chaptered story. This first chapter was short, but mostly because it is the introduction. The next chapter will be longer and better. I think this came out so so because I was in a hurry to get to the next chapter. There will be lots of twists and turns in this story.**

**Please R&R like always!**

**Preview for the next chapter:**

**"You have a lot of nerve showing your face here Gallagher."**

**"Nice to see you to Mickey. Is Mandy home?"**

**"That stopped being your business the day you left her behind and never talked to her again. Did I mention that you need a beat down for that?"**

**"Uncle Mickey?" **

**"Hey Kattie baby. Everything is okay. You go find mommy alright?"**

**"Mandy has a kid?"**

**"What was your first clue?"**

**"Whose the father?"**

**"Take a look in the fucking mirror."**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own anyone or anything from Shameless!**

As I stepped out of the cab, I paused to take a look around. I had been gone for almost four years. I attended college at the University of Chicago and the day I left, that was the last time I had contact with anyone from my past who was not family. That included my at the time girlfriend Mandy Milkovich.

It's not like I had planned to hurt her. Yet, after a lot of thought I came to the conclussion that it would be best to cut off all contact with her. Long distance relationships never did work out. Why should I keep us both chained down from having normal social lives while I was away? We both deserved a chance to have fun. She could move on and date other guys and I could fuck any girl I wanted without feeling guilty about it.

My plan all along had been for us to get back together when I came back. We could probably make it work. College was over and wouldn't separate us anymore. I had decided it would be best to come back to my childhood home so I could be close to my family. Not to mention so that I could be close to Mandy. I may have acted like a dick, but I did love her. That hadn't changed no matter how many girls I slept with.

My first stop would actually be to see Mandy. Fiona had told me over the phone that she and the kids would be gone for the weekend. Apparently Steve was taking them on some big getaway. By the time they got back, I would be moved in once more. Since they weren't home and I had no intention of seeing Frank, Mandy had been the most logical choice of who I would see first.

I had heard that she and Mickey had gotten an apartment close to where they had lived before. I guess Mandy and her parents had some big blowout and Mickey had helped her find a place to live. Kash and Linda had given me the directions while at the same time trying to get me to stay away. I have no idea why, but they couldn't change my mind. I had waited four years to see Mandy Milkovich again and nothing would get in my way.

I glanced down at the peice of paper with directions written on it one last time to make sure I had the right address. I would feel really stupid if I accidently ended up at some strangers home. Walking up the steps and on to the porch, I knocked twice. After a few seconds I took a chance and knocked again. This time I made sure to hit the door harder in case they had not heard it the first time.

I could hear movement inside and a mans voice saying to hold the fuck on. Instantly I knew it had to be Mickey. Ian had informed me that he and Mickey had broken up due to some events he wasn't allowed to talk about. I wondered if it had to do with Mandy and I. Mickey had always been very protective of his sister and Ian always took my side. I really hoped that I wasn't the reason they had split up.

Suddenly the door was ripped open and I was face to face with Mickey Milkovich. He looked different than the last time I had seen him. Cleaner for one thing and his face had no bruises or scratches from fights. He was also dressed up in decent looking clothing. No jeans with holes or shirts with the names of different punk bands. Was he actually wearing a button up dress shirt and black jeans?

As soon as Mandy's brother saw me, his entire expression darkened. Not that I could blame the guy since I did leave his sister high and dry. "You have a lot of nerve showing your face here Gallagher."

I counted to three before I replied. Mickey could be _very _terrifying when he wanted to be. Especially when it came to his sister. I'm sure he won't be happy to know that I have come back for her. Still, he would just have to learn to deal with it. "Nice to see you to Mickey. Is Mandy home?"

"That stopped being your business the day you left her behind and never talked to her again. Did I mention that you need a beat down for that?" The slightly older male clenched his fists at his side. Obviously he wanted nothing more than to plant his fist in my face. Wouldn't be the first time he did such a thing. "Mandy told me what you did. How you told her you loved her and then dropped her like a hot potato without telling her first. How you ignored her letters and phone calls. You piece of shit! You have no idea what you put her through and I am going to beat your ass for hurting my sister. You messed with the wrong girl."

I took a step back as I readied myself for a fight. I may not be as good a fighter as Mickey Milkovich, but I could hold my own. Yet I never got a chance to test my skills because a tiny voice rang out from behind him. "Uncle Mickey?"

I watched as a little blond girl came out from behind of Mickey. She looked to be about three or four and I knew right away that she had to be Mandy's. She had her green eyes and her facial structure. The only things she had in her physical appearance that did not match Mandy were her blond wavy hair and extra pale skin. She must get those traits from her father. Whoever the guy may be.

Immediately Mickey lost the air of violence and anger as soon as he heard her sweet little voice. His tensed up shoulders dropped and the menacing expression on his face was replaced by an honest to god smile. I think this is the first time I had ever seen Mickey Milkovich look anything other than an evil lunatic. It's a very strange thing to see when a tough guy like him acts so normal.

Bending down on one knee, Mickey looked the little girl in the eye. I could read the affection he held for her in his every movement. He actually loved this kid with all of his heart. Like he loved his sister Mandy. "Hey Kattie baby. Everything is okay. You go find mommy alright?"

The girl I now knew to be called Kattie, bit her bottom lip in the exact same way I remember Mandy used to. She peaked her head around Mickey's shoulder to glance at me. Her eyes full of questions about my identity. She wasn't sure if she should trust me and say hello or if she should be wary because I am a stranger. She must be a very intelligent little girl. I could see her analyzing every option in her head. In the end she did as her uncle instructed and raced inside the house to look for her mother.

"Mandy has a kid?" Those were the first words out of my mouth as soon as Kattie disappeared inside of the house. I have no idea why I wanted to know, maybe because deep down I was jealous of whoever got to have a family with Mandy. My plan all along had been to come home and have the life we were supposed to have. Not to come home and find her with a kid from a different guy.

The older Milkovich sibling snorted and rolled his eyes while at the same time crossing his arms. He stood protectively in front of the door like he thought I was going to run inside or something. "What was your first clue?"

I wanted to say something sarcastic, but I decided not to bother. A battle of words with Mickey would not accomplish anything. It would be better if I just launched in to my next question. "Whose the father?"

Part of me needed to know who the lucky bastard was. Who got to have Mandy when I didn't? By all rights, that little girl should've been mine. Mandy and I should of had the whole white picket fence thing. She is the only girl I have ever wanted to have that kind of life with. I had to know who had taken that away from me. Had to know so I could kick some serious ass.

"Take a look in the fucking mirror." Mandy's brother spat and all the anger he had been holding in returned in a rush.

I felt the air leave my lungs when I heard his answer. Was he insinuating that I was the father to that cute little girl? Was he messing with me? There is no way I could be that child's father. The timing was, I paused to do the math in my head. Okay, the math was fucking perfect, but somebody would've told me right? Mandy or someone from my family would have let me in on the fact I was a dad. So Mickey had to be wrong.

"I'm telling you that you have the wrong guy." I stated as Mickey took a step in my direction. "I don't have a kid. Mandy and I never had a baby together."

"You know what? You're right Gallagher. That little girl is not your daughter." He snapped and I felt relieved until he opened his mouth to continue speaking. "You may be her sperm donor, but you are _not _her father. You weren't here with Mandy when she had her first ultrasound. You didn't have to deal with the tears, the cravings, the cramps, and all the other shit that came with her pregnancy. When Kattie was born where were you? Probably fucking some blue eyed blonde bimbo! When she spoke her first word, _I _am the one who celebrated with my sister. _I _was here when she took her first steps. _I _drove all of us to ER when Kattie had her first case of the flu and when she sprained her ankle trying to dance. So you're right about one thing Gallagher, you are not and never will be her father."

Flashes flew by in my head as I pictured everything that Mickey said happening. Could I really have a child that I hadn't known about? Why didn't anyone tell me? "If I am the father and that is a big fucking if, why didn't Mandy tell me?"

I was unprepared for punch he planted in to my right eye socket. I felt the crunch of his knuckles as they met the bone surrounding my eye. "You utter fucking piece of shit! She did try to get a hold of you and all you did was ignore her!"

He brought his knee up and in to my stomach. I fell to my knees and he lifted his booted foot to plant it in my face before shoving me down in to the dirt. "Every letter she sent in your direction you sent back without having read it. Every call she made trying to reach you and all you did was delete them. How the fuck was she supposed to tell you anything if you weren't willing to listen?"

Another kick to my stomach had me gasping in pain. "I have a right to be in her life now that I know."

Mickey reached down and picked my up by the collar of my shirt. "You stay the fuck away from my sister and my niece. They don't need you to fuck things up for them. They have a nice life no thanks to you. Anything they need help with, I am here to do it. We don't need you Gallagher. Kattie certainly doesn't need to see what kind of scum her biological daddy is. Do yourself a favor and stay the hell away from them."

"And if I don't?" I asked when he dropped me back to the ground. "What if I want to know my daughter? You can't keep me away. If she is a Gallagher then she is going to know her family. She is going to know me."

Mickey turned around in the doorway considering he had headed back in the house moments before. His glare aimed to kill. "I am giving you only one warning Lip. Only one because you are her sperm donor, but if you try to fuck things up for my sister, I _will _kill you."

I had no doubt in my mind that every word he had just spoken happened to be the truth. Still, that would not keep me away. The next person I needed to speak with would be Mandy. I had to find out what the hell had happened after I left.

TBC...

**AN: So that is the chapter and I have to say that I loved writing Mickey in this. I was going to have him do more damage to Lip, but then I realized he wouldn't want to risk his niece seeing and so he went easy on him. Anyways, I do hope that you liked the chapter! In the next chapter Lip confronts Mandy!**

**Please R&R like always!**

**Preview for the next chapter:**

**"Is it true?"**

**"Fuck off Lip."**

**"Is it true Mandy? Is that little girl mine?"**

**"Yours? You think just because you came back out of the blue that you have any claim to my daughter?"**

**"If she is my daughter then yes, I think I have a right to know her."**

**"Maybe you should have been this attentive when I was actually pregnant. When we actually needed you."**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own anyone or anything from Shameless!**

No sleep came to me that night. The image of that little girl kept nagging at me and Mickey's words haunted me. Was I really a daddy? Did I have a toddler daughter I never even knew existed? Her eyes, she had the Gallagher eyes. The way she looked at me as if she wanted to know more, but was to afraid or shy to ask. Obviously that little girl had brains. Had she inherited them from me?

If she were my daughter, then I had a right to know her didn't I? I should've known all along. Even if Mandy couldn't get in to contact with me, any member of my family could've called me up on the phone or made a day trip. The fact that they hadn't gave me the feeling of being betrayed. It seems like everyone around me knew about this except for me. I had a daughter and all I knew about her was the fact she had my blond hair and her name was Kattie. I assumed Kattie to be short for something, but I couldn't be sure.

So that is why I am waiting in the blistering cold for Mandy to walk out her door. I'd knock and ask to see her, but I already had a black eye from her brother. I did not need another one. Besides, even if I did knock she wouldn't answer. Mandy would do her best to avoid me and I was not going to let that happen. She fucking owed me an explanation about this whole situation.

I watched as Mickey left for work or whatever it is he did during the day. He had _my _daughter in his arms and he was laughing at something she happened to be saying. I was tempted to run over to him and rip her out of his arms. To tell her I was her daddy. I wanted to know what she was saying. Wanted to know what went on in her little mind. I realized that it would constitute as kidnapping and so I did not do what I desperately wanted to.

A few minutes after Kattie and Mickey had vanished from my site, Mandy Milkovich came out of her front small home. I felt my heart speed up as I let my eyes roam her body. She looked almost exactly the same as she did the day I had left her. A few differences, but in four years there would be some differences. She couldn't stay the same forever.

Her hair is longer for one thing. It reached a little lower than the middle of her back. The color remained the same and she still had the different colored streaks. Her style of dress hadn't changed much either. She did not dress like any mother that I knew of. Short skirt which almost showed her ass and a corset top with her black leather jacket over it. She still looked absolutely beautiful. Her hips slightly bigger and yet I figured it to be due to her having given birth. It's not like it made her look fat or anything like that. If anything she looked more womanly.

I waited until she passed the tree I was hiding behind. Right when she was ahead of me, I jumped out and grabbed her arm. "Is it true?"

I remember the first time I had ever done that to her. It had been when we first started dating. _"Holy fuck Lip you scared me!" Her brilliant smile almost blinding me and rendering me nearly speechless. Her playful slap to my shoulder had knocked me out of my stupor._

_"Aww, did I scare the big bad Mandy Milkovich?" I smirked and leaned down to kiss her. "Poor baby. How will I ever make it up to you?"_

_My girl friend reached down between our bodies to squeeze my erection. Her grin turning in to a replica of my playful smirk. "I can think of a few ways."_

As I looked at her now, I saw no hint of playfulness. Her expression cold and full of hate. Hate for me and hate for my sudden reappearance in her life. Her dark eyes stabbed at me with accusation and I almost cringed away from her. "Fuck off Lip."

Remaining strong in my decision to confront her, I met her stare head on. I had positioned my body in front of hers so that she couldn't try to run from this conversation. Whether she liked it or not, we _would _be discussing this. "Is it true Mandy? Is that little girl mine?"

Her posture straightened as she met my eye. Her lips pressed together in a very thin line. Her reaction reminded me of those mother lions you see in the zoo when they are protecting the cubs. Mandy would fight to keep her daughter out of harms way. "Yours? You think just because you came back out of the blue that you have any claim to my daughter?"

"If she is my daughter then yes, I think I have a right to know her." A breeze blew a piece of hair in to her face and I reached out on reflex to move it for her. When she gave me a looking asking what the hell I was doing, I quickly let my hand drop to my side.

"Maybe you should have been this attentive when I was actually pregnant. When we actually needed you." Mandy said and readjusted her bag on her shoulder. She sighed and shoved her hair from her face. The wind had started to really pick up. "You know there is this invention called the telephone Lip. If you wanted to talk to me then all you had to do was ask Fiona for my number."

My eyebrow raised at this piece of information. "Fiona, has she met Kattie?"

If that little girl was my daughter, which seemed more and more likely from Mandy's reaction to me wanting to get to know her, it would be nice to know that Kattie knew some of her family. Her Gallagher family that is. I'm not fond of the idea that the Milkovich's are the only people she knew to be her family. Not that I minded Mickey so much when he wasn't beating my face in, but Mandy's parents and her other brothers weren't on my top ten favorite people list.

My ex girl friend nodded reluctantly. "_They _actually wanted to know her. Fiona was there the day she was born. She helped me when Kattie wouldn't sleep through the night. Debbie babysits for me on the weekends, even Carl comes to see his cousin. Liam thinks of her as a sister. For the record, her name is Katerina Gallagher."

I noticed two things when she spoke about my family. I noticed how she cringed when she told me Kattie's last name. I could tell that she wasn't happy about that. I'm betting that Fiona was the one to demand she had my last name. I would have to thank her for that. Katerina Milkovich did not seem to have the same ring to it. The second thing I noticed was the fact she hadn't mentioned Ian. The last I knew, she and my brother were BFF's. What had happened to that?

So the truth was finally out. I am that little girl's daddy. She had my last name, she looked like me, and my family had practically adopted her. "I want a paternity test."

Mandy bit her bottom lip. "That's not necessary. I don't want anything from you. I'm not asking for child support or anything like that."

I took a deep breath and blew it out. My hands running through my hair. "I never said you were asking for anything. _I _am the one who is asking. I want to be a part of my baby girls life. She needs a father figure and I hate to say it Mandy, but Mickey will never be a substitute for me. He is and only ever will be her uncle. She needs her father Mandy."

"You and I had fathers and look how fucked up we are." She countered and cleared her throat. "I think she is going to turn out pretty good without you in her life. She has turned out pretty damned good so far."

"Mandy I-" I started to argue with her and then she held her hand up to stop me before I had a chance to really get started.

"If you ever loved me at all Lip, you won't go against my wishes." For a moment we were old Mandy and Lip. When her eyes met mine, it was almost like I had never left in the first place. Everything was the way it should be. Then she continued talking and the moment was ruined. "Please don't start a fight over her. She's my daughter and we are better off without you. Just do whatever it is you did in college. Forget that I exist. You did not seem to have a problem doing it before."

She did not give me a chance to reply because she walked around me and burst in to a sprint. I could've ran after her and yet I chose to not do so. I was to busy running her every word in my head and analyzing it. Could I give Mandy what she wanted? Would it be better if I was not in Katerina's life? Was she better of without my influence? Could I walk away?

Could I be like Monica and pretend I did not have a family who needed me? Could I be like Frank and drink her memory away? I shook my head and shoved my hands in my jacket pocket. No, I would not give my daughter up without a fight. I would find a way to be in her life whether Mandy liked it or not.

TBC...

**AN: So Lip finally got to talk to Mandy. I don't think it turned out the way he wanted. I could've had Mandy scream at him, but I think she realized that it wouldn't do her any good. Don't worry because in future chapters she will totally go off on him! I do hope that you all liked this chapter. Please R&R like always!**

**Preview for the next chapter!**

**"My god!" "You're like a dog with a bone! You're like that creepy stalker vampire from Twilight! I swear if you start watching me in my sleep that I will stab you in the eye. You were never around this much when we were dating, so why are you now? Can't you just go away and leave me alone?"**

**"Let me see my daughter and I will."**

**"I told you no."**

**"I'm trying to do this the nice way. Don't make me get a lawyer."**

**"You would do that? Even though I asked you to leave us alone? Are you that fucking selfish Philip Gallagher?"**

**"If I were selfish I would simply walk away without looking back." "I've already talked to one actually. He told that because she has my last name that means I have a right to see her. I also have the right to demand a paternity test."**

**"If I let you see her will you leave us alone?"**

**"That's not going to happen Mandy." "Though I will rethink getting in touch with a laywer."**

**"I hate you."**

**"You used to love me once upon a time."**

**"Things change obviously. You drive hard bargain, but you can see her." "Get that stupid grin off of your face. I said you could see her. One time Lip and if it upsets her, you will **_**never **_**be allowed near her again. Do you understand?"**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own anyone or anything from Shameless!**

I haven't slept for what seems like days. Every spare moment I had would result with me being either outside of Mandy's home or in front of the restaurant I had learned she owned. It was nothing fancy, just a small diner, but I was impressed none the less. Anyways, I happened to be spending all my spare time trying to get my ex to talk to me about our daughter. After a lot of thinking I knew I could not go back to how things had been before. I knew my daughter existed now and because of that I wanted to be in her life.

I lit a cigarette as I waited for Mandy to head off to work. I figured catching her early in the morning would be the best way. I did not want to risk cornering her at work since I knew this job of hers supported our daughter. So here I sit on her front steps after having seen Mickey take my daughter off somewhere. My best guess being he took her to a nursery while and he Mandy went to work. I still did not know what he did for work, but I did not really care. As long as he was not exposing my daughter to anything violent or illegal then I was fine with him being in her life.

"My god!" I heard her before I saw her. Mandy stepped out on to her porch as she locked the front door. I stood up and waited for her to look at me. The expression on her face told me exactly how angry she happened to be. "You're like a dog with a bone! You're like that creepy stalker vampire from Twilight! I swear if you start watching me in my sleep that I will stab you in the eye. You were never around this much when we were dating, so why are you now? Can't you just go away and leave me alone?"

Taking a drag of my smoke, I almost offered some to her, but then I thought better of it and continued smoking it by myself. It was one way to keep my hands occupied. "Let me see my daughter and I will."

"I told you no." She stated firmly before taking the steps two at time in order to get away from me as quickly as she possibly could.

It wasn't hard for me to keep up with her. I kept in step with her and finally decided that if she would not see reason and actually have a decent conversation with me regarding our daughter then I would have to try something a little different. I had not wanted to go this route, but I would if not given any other choice. "I'm trying to do this the nice way. Don't make me get a lawyer."

Mandy seemed to freeze on the spot. It was so sudden that I almost tripped over my feet in my rush to stop a long side her. Her expression had changed to one of horror and a small amount of fear. "You would do that? Even though I asked you to leave us alone? Are you that fucking selfish Philip Gallagher?"

She was calling me selfish? How the fuck dis she figure I was selfish? She is the one who had kept my daughter from me for years. She had been the selfish one. She claimed she was doing it for our daughter, but when in reality she wasn't. How could keeping Kattie from knowing me be a good thing? That little girl had a right to know her daddy and vice versa. I am trying to do the right thing here. It was my ex who wanted to make things complicated.

"If I were selfish I would simply walk away without looking back." I stated while crushing the end of my cigarette under my boot. I had to look away from her dark eyes because they held so much emotion and most of the emotion trapped inside was something I did not want to see directed in my direction. "I've already talked to one actually. He told that because she has my last name that means I have a right to see her. I also have the right to demand a paternity test."

All was quiet for a few seconds. After a moment of complete silence Mandy let out a deep breath. She knew she better than anyone else and that knowledge is probably what swayed her decision. "If I let you see her will you leave us alone?"

"That's not going to happen, Mandy." I said as we continued walking again. One visit would never be enough for me. Now that I had seen my daughter, I wanted a major role in her life. "Though, I will rethink getting in touch with a lawyer."

"I hate you." She growled out while sticking her hands in her pockets.

"You used to love me once upon a time." I countered and immediately wished I had not said anything. Bringing up our past relationship would do no good. I just hoped that it wouldn't back fire and make her change her mind.

"Things change obviously. You drive hard bargain, but you can see her." Her voice held a hint of pain and regret. I wanted to reach out and hug her, to let her know that I never wanted to hurt her. If I could go back and change things then I would, yet that was not a possibility. "Get that stupid grin off of your face. I said you could see her. One time Lip and if it upsets her, you will _never _be allowed near her again. Do you understand?"

I tried to soften my gave in order to relay sincerity. "I won't upset her Mandy."

"You can't tell her who you are either." She said with a sigh. One of her hands had clenched in to a fist and I wondered if she was going to hit me. She was Mickey's sister and so she probably had his violent streak. "If you feel the need to tell her something, then say you are a friend of Fiona's. She absolutely adores your sister and Steve."

I had no doubt that she liked my sister. Fiona had a way with kids considering she had raised all of us Gallagher kids. She would make a good mother one day when she and Steve chose to start a family of their own. Funny how I ended up being the first of my siblings to have a child and I had not even known about it until four years later. Did not knowing make me better than my father or worse? I guess it made me better because if I had known about her then I would've been here for her.

"She has great taste then." Was my comment her remark about Fiona and Steve. Suddenly a question popped in to my mind and I needed to know. I was only assuming Mandy had found out she was pregnant after I left. What if she had known all along, but decided against telling me from fear that I would drop out of college. I wouldn't put such a thing past her. "Were you pregnant before I left?"

"No." My exes tone was clipped as her eyes turned hard and cold once more. She tightened her jacket around her before continuing on with what she wanted to say. "The last night we were together was the lucky number I guess. Because a few weeks later I missed my period and then almost nine months later Kattie popped out. The moment Fiona saw her she said Kattie looked just like you did when born."

"I wish I could've been there." The words came out before I could stop them, though they were the truth. I would have loved to have been there when Kattie was born. That is something I would never be able to experience again and I felt cheated because I had missed it. Granted it was mostly my fault for not taking any letters or phone calls from my ex-girlfriend.

She let out a sarcastic laugh when she heard my words. I preferred the laugh she emitted when happy and filled with delight. This laugh was bitter and not all like the Mandy I was still in love with. "Well you weren't because you were too busy pretending I didn't exist."

Reaching out in a rare moment of weakness, I placed my palm against her cheek. Her skin was chilled due to the cold weather. A memory of nights keeping each other warm passed in my mind and I yanked my hand away quickly. "I'm sorry."

"That's funny since you are never sorry for anything you do." Mandy told me as we finally reached the tiny diner she owned. She turned to look at me one last time before heading inside. Her eyes lingered on my face for a few seconds. "As much as I hate you, I have to thank you for giving me my daughter. She is the one good thing that came out of us being together."

After saying those words, she disappeared inside and I was left in the freezing cold. It took me a couple of minutes to get control over my emotions. Mandy had basically just told me that she regretted everything we had once had together. With the way I still felt about her, those words were equal to the pain of her ripping my heart out and setting it on fire. This was worse than when Karen fucked Frank. After all this time I realized how much I had fucked up by not staying in contact with Mandy.

TBC…

**AN: I know I have not updated in a while, but I wanted to and I kind of have inspiration again. It's like with Shameless coming back that it renewed my interest in this story. I hope that you all liked this chapter and I would love to hear your thoughts. In the next chapter Lip meets his little girl face to face for the first time and he meets someone from his past who could ruin his plan to get Mandy back.**

**Please R&R like always!**

**Preview for the next chapter:**

"**Do you want to color Mr. Lip?"**

"**I would love to color with you."**

"**Mommy says that if I try really hard I can be the best person ever at coloring pictures."**

"**She does?"**

"**Uh huh and she says that I can do anything if I put my mind to it."**

"**That is true."**

"**Mr. Lip do you know why my mommy cries all the time?" "She has a picture of you in her room and she cries a lot when she sees it. It makes uncle Mickey really mad."**

**"Maybe theya re happy tears." "Sometimes when grown ups cry it is because they are so happy. Your mom loves you very much and I bet she is crying because of that."**

**"These are not happy tears. Mommy is sad a lot." "At day care a mean boy called me freak for not having a daddy."**

**"You are not a freak Kattie." "I will tell you a secret. I don't have a mom. She went away a long time ago and I am not a freak am I?"**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own anyone or anything from Shameless!**

I wasn't sure if I should go with a white button down short sleeved shirt or a black sweater. It would be the first time I was meeting Katerina face to face and I wanted to look good. I needed to make a good first impression. This night would prove to Mandy that I wanted to be a part of my daughter's life. I had to do whatever it took in order to make my ex see that I could be a good dad. As upset as I happened to be about the fact Mandy seemed to regret everything we ever had, I still wanted to try and be civil with each other for the sake of Kattie. I knew what it was like to have two parents who hated each other and I did not want that for my daughter.

Finally I decided to go with the black sweater. As I slipped it over my head I heard someone knock on the bedroom door. I was staying with Fiona until I could find and apartment and she let me use the spare bedroom. I knew it had to be her or Steve since everyone else had plans for the evening. "Come in."

As predicted my older sister came through the door. She leaned against the wall while watching me get ready. "I just wanted to let you know its quarter to six and you wanted me to remind you fifteen minutes before you had to go."

"Thanks." I told her as I turned around to face her. Fiona and I had always been the closest of the kids other than Ian and myself. With Ian away overseas Fiona was the only one I could really talk to. "What if she doesn't like me Fi? What if Mandy is right and Katerina would be better off without me? I haven't exactly had the best father to use as an example."

Fiona sighed and went to sit down on my bed as I followed and sat next to her. "You've made mistakes Lip, but who hasn't? The point is you are trying to make things right the only way you know how. I'm not going to lie to you, but both you and Mandy went about this whole situation the wrong way. If you didn't want to be with her then the least you could've done was break up with her face to face. Mandy should have found another way to get in to contact with you, but in the end it was her choice."

I went to say something, yet Fiona cut me off by holding up her hand and indicating she was not done speaking yet. "Try to make the best of this situation as you can. You are afraid of turning in to Frank, but the way I see it is you can use the experience of having him as a father to be a better father yourself. You're a good guy Lip and the only advice I can give is that you need to be yourself. Trust in your instinct and this will work out for the best."

When she was finished speaking I stood up. "You're right and I know that I can do this. I hope she likes me because I want to be in her life. When I found out she was my daughter, it was like I couldn't breathe. Not in a bad kind of way, but rather I was filled with an emotion I can't even identify. All I know is that I would never want to take back learning she was mine."

"You love her." Fiona finished for me and I tilted my head quizzically. "You may not know her well yet, but you have that love in your heart for her. She is a part of you Lip and you feel a connection her. She is a lot like you were at that age. Always asking questions and trying to learn new things. She already knows her ABC's and she can do some basic math. Mandy is always pushing her to keep learning. She really is a great mother and you will be a great father. Katerina is going to love you. How could she not?"

I really hoped that my sister was right. I wanted Kattie to like me. I wanted her to trust me one day so that I could tell her the truth of who I was. Someday I hoped to be a family one of these days. Maybe I could get Mandy to fall in love with me and we could be a real family. If not then I wanted to be friends at the very least. With one last deep breath I stood up and headed out of the house.

"Wish me luck." I muttered loud enough for Fiona to hear before grabbing my jacket and disappearing out the door. Finally it was time to meet my daughter.

00000000

When I got to Mandy's place it was not as awkward as I had thought it would be. She introduced me as Mr. Lip because it wasn't like she could say Gallagher without Kattie asking questions. My ex left to make dinner and give me some time with our daughter. I noticed Mickey kept hovering in the doorway. Did he think I would kidnap her? I tried my best to ignore his presence. I sat in the living room with my daughter who was surrounded by crayons of varying colors and blank sheets of paper.

She held out a green grayon and piece of paper. I noticed right away that she had Mandy's habit of biting her bottom lip. "Do you want to color Mr. Lip?"

Smiling I took the offered items. "I would love to color with you."

Her smile was almost contagious as she went back to her drawing. It was of what I guessed to be a family. A mother, a daughter, and a man with a question mark for a face. Was this how she saw her family? The mystery man must be me since she had no idea who her father happened to be. "Mommy says that if I try really hard I can be the best person ever at coloring pictures."

I started to draw a house. I wanted to keep my picture kid friendly and so a house seemed to be a good way to go. Relief filled me when Katerina gave me an opening to keep up conversation. "She does?"

Kattie nodded enthusiastically and I couldn't help but smile at her excitement. "Uh huh and she says that I can do anything if I put my mind to it."

"That is true." I replied and took a black crayon to do the outline of the house. The good thing about having siblings which were younger than me was the fact I had experience when it came to stuff like this. I used to color with Debbie and Carl all the time when I had a spare moment.

"Mr. Lip, do you know why my mommy cries all the time?" Her question came out of the blue and I did my best to hide my surprise. Mandy cried all the time? What reason would she have to cry? Was she in some sort of trouble? "She has a picture of you in her room and she cries a lot when she sees it. It makes Uncle Mickey really mad."

That cleared it up for me right away. I'm the reason she cries. No wonder Mickey would be so pissed. I would be pissed off to if someone made Fiona cry. Did she cry because I came back and she was afraid I would take Katerina from her? Did she cry because she still loved me? Maybe she wasn't as over me as she tried to make it seem. Knowing she had a picture of me by her bedside gave me hope that I still had a fighting chance to fix things with her.

"Maybe they are happy tears." I offered as an explanation. I set down my crayon and turned my full attention on my little girl. She was looking up at me with curious eyes waiting for an answer to her questions. "Sometimes when grownups cry it is because they are so happy, your mom loves you very much and I bet she is crying because of that."

"These are not happy tears. Mommy is sad a lot." Kattie countered as a frown settled on her lips. She looked so sad and all I wanted to do was scoop her up in my arms and cuddle her until she was smiling again. Fiona had been right, I loved this little girl with all of my heart and I hardly knew anything about her. "At day care a mean boy called me freak for not having a daddy."

I wondered if it made a bad person for wanting to find this little boy and make him cry for what he did to Kattie. I guess this means I was going to be and overprotective father. The thought of anyone causing Katerina sadness filled me with rage. Why would anybody do something to upset this angel of a little girl? She was sweet and loving and you don't make someone so sweet cry. It's just not something which should be allowed.

"You are not a freak Kattie." I told her seriously. I looked around to make sure Mickey wasn't watching. I didn't need his smart ass comments right now. If anyone could relate to growing up without a parent, it would be. Monica had never been a good mother. Even when she was around it was like she wasn't there. She spent most of her time drinking her life away anyways. "I will tell you a secret. I don't have a mom. She went away a long time ago and I am not a freak am I?"

Kattie shook her head of blond hair. I think she would have said something, but a knock on the door caught her attention and she jumped to her feet. "I'll get it mommy! Maybe it's Uncle Tony!"

My brow furrowed in confusion as I stood up as well. I knew one Tony, but it couldn't be him could it? Why would Tony Markovich be visiting Mandy? When the door opened I found out it was indeed Tony Markovich. When he saw me I could read the anger in his eyes. What had I done to him? The one question I had suddenly became answered when Mandy came in from the kitchen and walked over to him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her. I felt my stomach drop to my feet. No fucking way could this be happening could it?

My ex-girlfriend smiled brightly at a man who wasn't me. "Hey my knight in shining armor. How was your day?"

The words left my mouth before I could stop them. "You must be joking. What you're fucking him?"

TBC…

**AN: So here is the next chapter and I hope you all liked it. In the next chapter there is going to be a huge fight between Lip and Mandy. I am really excited to write that chapter. I think that it needs to happen for the story to progress forward. Let me know what you all thought about this chapter. I wanted to do something interesting with Mandy and a new love interest and immediately thought of Tony.**

**Please R&R like always!**

**Preview for the next chapter:**

"**If you think I am going to let that fucker adopt my daughter and try to play daddy to her then you have another thing coming."**

"**The choice isn't up to you."**

"**She's my daughter!"**

"**You have no right to a claim on her!" "Tony has been here since the day she was born. He and Mickey are the ones who helped raise her. They helped take care of her. She turned in to a beautiful little girl with no thanks to you because you weren't here!"**

"**And whose fault is that Mandy?" "How was I supposed to be here if you didn't tell me about her?"**

"**You wouldn't listen!"**

"**You could've tried harder." "I want a paternity test and I want to tell her who I am. I'm not going to wait around for Tony to try and replace me."**

"**Just sign the papers and leave us alone!" "Let her have a normal family Lip. Why do you have to fuck it all up?"**

"**I have a right to be in her life and you can't replace me with a rent a cop want to be." "I won't let him adopt her. It's not going to happen."**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own anyone or anything from Shameless!**

To say that dinner was awkward would be a very nice way of putting things. Mickey and Tony were both trying to kill with their eyes, Mandy remained oddly quiet, and Kattie seemed to be talking for everyone. I think it made the two other men in the room furious since she directed all the conversation towards me. I had to admit that my little girl was a talker. If talking at the speed of light were a competition then she would most definitely win. She could talk about anything and I was riveted. I couldn't stop listening to what she had to say. She had my attention during the whole dinner. She just has this presence about her that made it so I was unable to look away.

When I had commented about Mandy fucking Tony, nobody hand answered me because Katerina had dragged Tony over to color with us. Apparently she thought we should be best friends. I did not want to be the one to burst her bubble and so I pretended to get along with him when all I wanted to do was choke the life out of the cop who had once been infatuated with my sister. How dare he try to replace me in a family that rightfully belonged to me? He needed to get his own family and stop trying to be involved with anything Gallagher. I mean first it was my sister and now my ex? He really was on a roll and it was one I did not like very much.

I was brought back to the one-sided conversation as my daughter continued talking. I was not sure what she had moved on to now, but whatever it was, I could not wait to hear it. She had this way with words that was absolutely fucking adorable. How could anyone not love this little girl? "Did you know that Uncle Tony is going to be my daddy? He and mom talked to a nice man who gave me a lollipop about ado- adop- dopt- How do you say it mommy?"

"Adopting is the word you are trying to say honey." Her mother said quietly.

"They talked to a nice man about dopting me!" A huge smile spread on her face and as much as I wanted to smile back, I lacked the ability do so in this moment. Katerina did not seem to notice my silence as she kept on talking. "I am finally going to have a daddy!"

My head immediately swung around to look at Mandy and she met my gaze. I knew I was wearing my best what the fuck face since that is the only thought on my mind. A little fucking warning would have been nice. She was trying to get Tony Markovitch to adopt _my _daughter? Is that why she was fucking him? Did she just want a daddy for our baby girl? It was not going to fly in my book. I was here now and I was going to be a father to my little girl. If she wanted a fucking fight for custody then I would give it to her.

I had been hoping that tonight would bring us closer together. I wanted to show her that I could be a good dad. I wanted to show her that everything we had once had together was not a mistake. I honestly wanted to show her that I was still in love with her and that I believed we could make things work. I wanted to make things, but I don't know if that is an option now. I mean it is pretty damned obvious she does not want things to work. She did not even give me any fucking warning about Tony. She had wanted to hurt me. At least that is what it felt like to me in this moment.

I stayed after dinner even though both Mickey and Tony made it pretty clear that it was time for me to leave. I ignored them because I wasn't done yet. I was going to talk to Mandy alone since this was about our daughter and as much as Mickey and Tony may think they had a part of this, they really didn't. This was between Mandy and me. I waited patiently for her to be done the dishes and I colored with Kattie until then. This time I drew a picture of a cop with little x's for eyes. You know, like those pictures of fish with x for eyes so that you know for sure they are dead. The cop had blond hair and looked suspiciously like Tony Markovitch.

"Tony, would you mind putting Kattie bet while I speak with Lip? Mickey maybe you should help him. You did promise to read her a bed time story." I saw Mandy come in wiping her hands on a dish towel.

Tony nodded and picked up the little girl after she gave me a hug and asked if I would come by to see her again. I promised that I would and hugged her back. I did not want to let her go, but I knew I had no choice. After she skipped out of the room talking about what story they should tell her, my ex came to stand over my shoulder as I cleaned up the crayons. I heard her sigh and turned to look up at her after I had finished cleaning. It was a force of habit more than a kind deed. Helping your sister raise so many little siblings caused certain habits to rub off on me.

I knew she was looking at my picture since it was out in plain view. "Nice picture Lip, really fucking mature don't you think?"

I saw no reason to reply to her comment about my drawing. The meaning of my picture came out loud and clear. I simply wanted to get to the matter at hand. "If you think I am going to let that fucker adopt my daughter and try to play daddy to her then you have another thing coming."

A smile of complete anger and annoyance came to rest on her lips as she ran her hands through her hair. I knew my ex to be fighting back the urge to scream. Her voice cracked while she tried to remain calm and understanding. She had come a long way from the Mandy Milkovich I knew, but the Mandy I knew was still in there in some ways. "The choice isn't up to you."

"She's my daughter!" I replied with anger lacing my voice. Did she really think 'the choice isn't up to you' would actually cut it for a real answer?

"You have no right to a claim on her!" She snapped back and we were face to face. While I may have a few good inches on her, neither of us was willing to back down. Not when it came down to this top for obvious reasons. "Tony has been here since the day she was born. He and Mickey are the ones who helped raise her. They helped take care of her. She turned in to a beautiful little girl with no thanks to you because you weren't here!"

"And whose fault is that Mandy?" My face was right up to hers. If she were a guy I probably would've hit her by now, but I didn't ever lay my hands on a woman in a violent manner. I wasn't my fucking father. If I were then I would've let Tony and Mandy do whatever they wanted with my baby girl. "How was I supposed to be here if you didn't tell me about her?"

"You wouldn't listen!" Mandy snarled as she shoved her finger in to my chest for emphasis. I remember when we would fight as a couple and the fights could be fucking brutal, but the making up was even better. Too bad we wouldn't be making up like we had in the past.

"You could've tried harder." My voice was raising and I knew that if I was not careful I could end up frightening Katerina or making Mickey or Tony or perhaps both, come out to check on my ex-girlfriend. Taking a deep breath I tried to lower my voice. It was still harsh and cold, but not quite as loud. "I want a paternity test and I want to tell her who I am. I'm not going to wait around for Tony to try and replace me."

"Just sign the papers and leave us alone!" Mandy always did have the most expression filled eyes I had ever seen. She always had this way of conveying her feelings with her eyes. Right now she was practically begging me to back off. She did not need to use words to express her want. Her eyes said everything I could ever want to know. "Let her have a normal family Lip. Why do you have to fuck it all up?"

"I have a right to be in her life and you can't replace me with a rent-a-cop want to be." I could feel my anger spike and I couldn't help but look down at her and see the Mandy of my past. I knew what would have happened next, but I tried to focus on the argument since we were so obviously not the old Mandy and Lip. "I won't let him adopt her. It's not going to happen."

"You are such a selfish asshole!" She growled and I don't know what happened next.

All I know is that I kissed her. I leaned down and caught her lips with mine. It was like I had been taken over by all my feelings of the past. I couldn't help it if she was hot when pissed off. She always had been and she most likely always would be. Kissing her could not have been helped and I think she wanted me to kiss her as well. Reaching up I laced my fingers in her hair, but when I tried to deepen the kiss she pulled back and curled her hand in to a fist before catching the corner of my jaw with her fist.

My head snapped to the side as my hand flew to my face. "Fuck!"

Mandy wiped her mouth and spit on the floor. Her eyes were on fire as she raised her like she was going to hit me again. "What the hell made you think kissing me was a good idea? It was the worst idea you could have possibly come up with! Let's get a few things clear shall we Gallagher? You and I are never going to get back together. I don't know what made you think that could even be a remote possibility, but I am making it pretty obvious that is something which will never happen. Not even when pigs fly do we have a chance of getting back together. You ruined anything we once had together when you treated me like a whore."

There was a slight pause that allowed Mandy to catch her breath and get her thoughts in order. "You want to get to know your daughter then I know I can't stop you, but you are not going to get in the way of this adoption. Go ahead and talk to lawyer because I am going to talk to one too. For the record, Tony and I haven't fucked yet, but when we do, it is none of your business. You need to leave before I lose all common since and make my brother come out here to kick your ass. When you are in my house you will respect everyone in here as well. Don't be picking fights Lip and don't try to kiss me again. You touch me and I'll break your damned hand. I am not the same weak little girl you once knew."

"That much is obvious." I muttered as I grabbed my jacket and walked out her front door. I accidently slammed the door in my anger before stomping down the porch steps and in to the direction of my sister's house. Well this evening had not gone as smoothly as I had hoped it would.

TBC…

**AN: I thought that this chapter came out really freaking well. I am really proud of it. I think it is one of the best chapters so far. I know it could have been longer, but I really like where I ended it. I thought that it flowed well. Anyways, I do hope that you all liked it as well. I would love to hear your thoughts. In the next chapter Mandy comes over to the Gallagher house in order to speak with Lip.**

**Please R&R like always!**

**Preview for the next chapter:**

"**If you are here to hit me again then don't bother." "See I still have a pretty good bruise."**

"**I'm not here to hit you. Don't be such a cry baby Lip, it does not suit you."**

"**Why are you here?"**

"**We need to talk."**

"**Didn't we talk enough last night?"**

"**That was arguing." "Look I do not want to put Kattie through any unneeded stress. Isn't there a way we can work this out peacefully?"**

"**I want to tell her who I am."**

"**Then we will."**

"**You don't get to say no-" "Wait, really?"**

"**I talked to Fiona on the phone last night and she made a few good points. Katerina is your daughter and if you want her to know who you are then I shouldn't stand in the way."**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own anyone or anything from Shameless!**

After everything which had gone down with Mandy the night before at the dinner from hell I had gone to the Alibi. I had been there all night because Kev had decided to stay open when he realized if he kicked me out at closing I would just go somewhere else and at least if I was here he could keep an eye on me and make sure that I didn't do anything stupid. For hours he listened to me rant about Mandy as I called her every horrible name in the book before I moved on to badmouthing Tony. After that I actually cried over my ex and the situation we found ourselves in, but I blamed that on the alcohol. Now I see why Frank came here all the time. It is a good place let off some steam.

The door to Alibi opened and I heard the clacking of heels as a woman came to sit next to me. If I had been in my right mind I probably would have flirted with her and hopefully fuck her as a way to get Mandy out of my head and my damn heart. After finishing the last few gulps of my beer I turned to the woman only to see Mandy Milkovich sitting next to me with her arms crossed over her chest as Kevin gave her a glass of water. I had to blink in order to make sure I wasn't experiencing some sort of drunken delusion. When I opened my eyes and saw her to still be there I knew I wasn't dreaming. Maybe a living nightmare, but definitely not a dream due to having drank so much I passed out.

"If you are here to hit me again then don't bother." I muttered and downed the shot Kev put in front of me. I had been here long enough that he knew the routine. As soon as one drink was finished he would make sure another appeared almost instantly. I motioned to my black eye with my right hand. "See? I still have a pretty good bruise."

Mandy rolled her eyes and twisted around in the bar stool to look at me. "I'm not here to hit you. Don't be such a cry baby Lip, it does not suit you."

"Why are you here?" I questioned setting my head in my hands. The one down fall of drinking nonstop had to be the blistering headache I got. A hangover I could have handled, but this was ten times worse. Hell, I would take a beating from Mickey over this monster of a migraine.

"We need to talk." She pushed the water away from her and ordered a shot. I could see Kevin look like he wanted to say no, yet she answered his unspoken question. "Don't worry I am not going to have a relapse. It is just one drink and if I have to talk to this idiot then I am going to need it. Make it a rum and coke and feel free to go easy on the rum if it makes you feel better."

I narrowed my eyes in confusion when I heard her statement. What did she mean when she talked about having a relapse? Had she been an alcoholic? Is that why Kev was so nervous about serving her? I wanted to ask, but I thought better of it. It was not my business and she probably wouldn't answer me anyways and if she did I am not sure I would want to hear the truth. So instead of sating my curiosity I continued on with the conversation we had been having. "Didn't we talk enough last night?"

"That was arguing." Mandy sighed in irritation while tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. When we were dating I used to do that for her all the time, but we were no longer dating and if I tried to touch her again without her permission I had no doubt she would try to break my jaw. "Look, I do not want to put Kattie through any unneeded stress. Isn't there a way we can work this out peacefully?"

"I want to tell her who I am." There was no need for me to say more because that is what it would take for me to be able to give Mandy what she wanted without a fight. There is nothing else I wanted (other than Mandy herself and yet that was not going to happen with Tony fucking Markovich in the picture) than to have a part in my little girls life.

The only girl I had ever loved did not say anything right away. Even as she turned her gaze away from me I could tell she was struggling with her internal thoughts. A part of me hoped the reason she was trying so hard to push me out of her life was due to the fact she still loved me or wanted me. I would even take want over love because if she wanted me then I still had a remote chance of getting her to fall in love with me again. I had already done it once without even trying and I was sure I could do it again given enough time. "Then we will."

"You don't get to say no-" I started to snap until I actually processed her words. She hadn't said no like I thought she would. I could feel a small smile start to play at the corners of my lips tugging them upwards. "Wait, really?"

She nodded and took a deep breath before taking a tiny sip of the drink Kevin sat down in front of her. "I talked to Fiona on the phone last night and she made a few good points. Katerina is your daughter and if you want her to know who you are then I shouldn't stand in the way. If I keep you out of her life she is just going to hate me when she is older. This doesn't change anything Lip. I still hate you and I still want Tony to adopt her. He is good to us and Kattie deserves the best life possible."

I wanted to tell her that I could give both she and Kattie the best life possible, but how could I say that when I wasn't even sure it was true? Tony had a steady job, a house of his own, and a good reputation. What did I have to offer? Maybe if I actually had a plan for my life then Mandy would take me more seriously. I needed to prove to her that I could be what she and our daughter needed. The first step would be by showing her that I was not Frank Gallagher and I could be a good father. I could be everything a father should be. Sure I had missed a lot of crucial moments and yet I could start the healing process by being here now.

"Do you think I could see her tonight?" I said pushing my drink away. It was a first good step in showing Mandy that I was not like my father or hers. "I would love to take the two of you out for dinner and we could tell her then."

My ex hesitated for a second. "You can come to dinner at our place and no, Tony will not be there. Mickey and a friend of ours will be, but Mickey knows my choice and while he may not agree with it he knows there is no changing my mind."

I stood up and had to place my hand against the bar to stop from falling over. After I regained my balance I looked at my ex. "I'll come by around four thirty and we can tell her before we eat. Thank you Mandy, I promise I won't fuck this up."

"You better not." She warned standing up as well before heading towards the door.

"Hey Milkovich," I called out before she could leave and waited for her to turn my way. "You and Tony huh? Does he treat you good?"

Her reaction was not exactly what you would expect to see on a girl who was in love. She nodded slightly. "He is a good guy."

I frowned watching her leave. That had not been what I wanted to know. Maybe I should talk to Fiona and see what I could really find out about Mandy and her relationship with the wannabe cop Tony. After saying goodbye to Kev I headed back to Fiona's so that I could catch a few hours' sleep before dinner tonight. This may not everything I wanted, but it was a chance that is all I needed. One chance to prove I was not a complete fuck up.

TBC…

**AN: So I know I have not updated in a while, but I felt inspired to start writing it again. Let me know what you all thought of this chapter. I think it turned out alright even if it was sort of short. There is not a preview in this chapter because I am toying with a couple of ideas for the next chapter.**

**Please R&R like always!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own anyone or anything from Shameless!**

How does one tell their child that they are their father? I honestly had no idea what to say. I mean what would my little girl think of me when she found out the truth? Would she be happy that I was around? Would she be angry that I was out of her life for so long? I couldn't be sure of the things she had heard about me and to be honest that thought scared me because let's face it, not everyone around here was my biggest fan and Mickey was included in on that group of people. I was positive that if my name had mentioned in that house it wasn't anything a child should be hearing especially if it had been said by Mickey.

Hopefully she would understand to the best of her ability for someone her age. Mandy had agreed that we would stay off of details and stick to the basics. If Kat asked questions I would answer them the best that I could without going in to detail she didn't need to hear. There were just things a child did not need to know and I'd make sure she didn't. I ended up at Mandy's place around four which was earlier than expected, but I couldn't wait any longer. I was excited and nervous all in one and the sooner we did this the sooner my anxiety would leave my body. I clutched a small stuffed dog in my hands. It had been mine when I was a baby and it was missing one eye frown when it belonged to Carl, but other than that it was in pretty good shape for something that had been handed down to each of us over the years. Since Liam no longer needed it Fiona suggested I give it to Kat.

I knocked on the door and went inside once I heard Mandy call out to do exactly that. I found her inside preparing things for dinner. The girl I had once dated never was a great cook, but the other night had proven that she'd gotten better at it over the years. "Smells good Mandy. Where is Kattie?"

My ex looked up from where she was currently chopping up onions. "She is upstairs changing in to her play clothes. She should be down in a few minutes. Mickey and Eric who you have yet to meet will be here around five thirty when we are ready to eat so I figured we could tell her the news during that time period. Wait, why do you have a mutated stuffed dog in your arms?"

"Mr. Snuffles is not mutated he just old." I replied feeling slightly offended on behalf of my once stuffed dog. "He has been passed down through my family since I was a baby and I thought it would be a nice gift for our daughter."

"The missing eye must be the handiwork of Carl." She stated with a small laugh before throwing the onions in a bowl and setting it to the side before wiping her hands on a towel and coming to stand next to me. "I am sure she will love it. Remember Lip this is a test run. If you do anything to upset Kattie I won't let you see her again. I won't let anything or anyone hurt my little girl."

As if she knew we were talking about her Katerina came down the stairs with a big smile on her face. "Mr. Lip I didn't know you were visiting today! Do you want to play dolls with me? I'll let you use my favorite one if you want."

I went to say something yet my ex beat me to it. "Maybe Mr. Lip can play dolls with you later honey. We actually want to talk to you about something important. Come and sit on the couch with us sweetheart."

After all of us were sitting down (Katerina on her mother's lap) I knew that I should probably say something though I wasn't exactly sure how to go about it. Then I remember Mr. Snuffles and I handed him to her and she looked at me curiously. "He was mine when I was a little boy and I thought you could give him a new home. His name is Mr. Snuffles. Kattie do you remember how you told me that you didn't know your daddy?"

My little girl nodded and her blond hair bounced due to the motion. Mr. Snuffles was clutched tightly against her chest. "He went away before I was born. You also told me how you don't have a mommy."

I looked at Mandy who nodded letting me know that I could tell her if I wanted to do so and since I did I took a deep breath trying to gather up the courage. "That is right my mom went away a very long time ago too. The reason I came over today was to tell you something very important. I know that you may not understand and I will answer any questions you have after I promise. I told you that I knew your mom a long time ago which is true. I loved your mommy very much, but I had to go on a trip and I did a very stupid thing on this trip. I let go of your mommy which is something I will always regret. The truth is that I am your daddy Katerina. I didn't know I was your daddy until I got back, but since I am back I hope that we can be friends I really-Ow!"

I had not been prepared to feel a set of little teeth sink in to the flesh of my arm. I looked down to see my daughter had bitten me hard enough to leave marks. The expression on her tiny face was one of fury and in the next instant she had jumped out of Mandy's lap as she started kicking my shins with her small feet. She threw Mr. Snuffles right at my face. "You're a bad man Mr. Lip and I don't want you're stupid ugly dog! You hurt my mommy and made her cry! I hate you! I don't want you to be my daddy! You are a bad daddy! I hate you! I want you to go away! Mommy, make him go away!"

Mandy went to grab Katerina, but our daughter was running up the stairs to her room before either of us had a chance to stop her. We could hear her screaming and throwing things from all the way upstairs. "I should go check on her."

"I'll do it." I replied standing up quickly. "I think it will be good if I talk to her. As long as you don't mind I mean."

"Go ahead and give it your best shot, but you should probably know that when she is in a tantrum she tends not to listen."

"She takes after you then." I teased even thought my heart wasn't really in it. "If you hear a girlish scream it is most likely me and not our daughter. She has one set of sharp little teeth."

TBC…

**AN: I know I have no updated this in a while and it is because I haven't watched all of this last season. I still hope that you all liked it and I would love to hear your thoughts.**

**Please R&R like always!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own anyone or anything from Shameless!**

When I knocked on the door to Katerina's room I was told to go away. I knew that I needed to talk to her though. The last thing I wanted was for my daughter to hate me. Of course she had every right to feel that way, but it still broke my heart. When I knocked again and received no reply this time around I cautiously opened the pink door covered in Barbie stickers. To be honest I entered slowly because I would rather my daughter didn't have another vampire moment like she had down stairs. Her teeth were like tiny daggers and it is not something I wanted to feel penetrate any part of my flesh again. Debbie used to be a biter as well and I have to wonder if that is where Kat got it from. At least she wasn't like Carl who tended to set things on fire.

"Do you think we could talk?" I asked walking in to her room once I spotted her on the small bed with her face buried in the pillow which muffled her sobs, but did not silence them completely. "I want to try and work things out Kattie. It really makes me sad knowing that you hate me. The last thing I want is for you to hate me. I know we haven't known each other long, but I really do love you."

Kattie sat up and glared at me as she wiped at her wet cheeks angrily another trait she had picked up from her mother. "If you love me then why weren't you here? A daddy should be here for their daughter. A daddy should have taken me to my first day of preschool, a daddy would have kissed all of my ouch spots to make them feel better, and a daddy would never had made my mommy cry. It is your fault that mommy cries all the time and it is your fault she had to go away for my second birthday to a special hospital so she wouldn't drink the bad drink anymore. Nobody is allowed to hurt my mommy, especially not my daddy!"

So I had been right in assuming Mandy had been an alcoholic in the past. It must have gotten really bad for her to go to a rehab center. I wonder if she went on her own or if Mickey had made her. I never thought Mandy would be someone to fall in to the life of an alcoholic. I mean look at our fathers. They should be the perfect example as to why drinking too much was a bad thing. Perhaps I would talk to her about it once I had finished speaking with my little girl.

"I honestly didn't know about any of that and I never meant to cause your mother any sadness." I chose to be as truthful as I could be with her. "What you have to understand is that I was a lot younger at the time and I had no idea your mother was pregnant with you. If I had known I would've been here for the both of you. I cannot make up for the past Katerina, but what I can do is be here for you in the future. I am not asking you to forgive me Kat since I know that is going to take a lot of time, but maybe we can start off as friends and then maybe one day you will give me a second chance."

Katerina bit her bottom lip as she looked at me with her Disney princess eyes. I could tell that she was unsure as to what she should do next and I understood completely. I was still a stranger to her and she had loyalties to her mother. "Do you still love my mommy?"

I have to admit that I was taken aback by her question. "I really do love your mother and you Kat. I was stupid to ever go away and leave your mom behind. It is something that I will regret for the rest of time."

My daughter nodded accepting my words which I suppose was a good thing. At least she was not biting me or kicking my shins. Kattie was a lot stronger than she looked especially for someone of such a young age. "Don't tell mommy I told you, but I think she still loves you too. Tony has asked her to marry him a couple of times, but she tells him she wasn't ready. I am still mad at you and I am not calling you daddy until you deserve it. You can stay for dinner thought because I do want to be friends. Is it okay if I have the stuffed doggy back? I was mad, but I still like him."

"Yes you can have him." I told her with a smile. I was so happy she was going to give me a second chance even though I probably did not deserve one. "I promise that I won't ever do anything to hurt you or your mom again and if I do you can have Uncle Mickey beat me up."

She took her small hand in mine. "You have a deal and if you ever make my mommy cry again I will bite you so hard you cry."

"Well then I guess I won't ever make your mommy cry." I told her before standing up. "How about we go downstairs and see if your mom needs any help setting the table? Then maybe we can sit down and talk some more. I want to hear everything there is to know about you."

"That may take a long time there is a lot to learn." She informed me with a bright smile though her eyes still held hints of distrust.

I held my hand for her to take and she did hesitantly. It was a step in the right direction so I couldn't complain. "I have all the time in the world so that is not something you need to worry about."

TBC…

**AN: Here is another update and I am still not completely caught back up on Shameless, but I am getting there slowly. Shorter chapters are easier for me to write so that is what you are going to get and shorter chapters means longer story in the long run so woohoo! Let me know if you all liked this or not since you know I love hearing your thoughts.**

**Please R&R like always!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own anyone or anything from Shameless!**

Dinner with Mandy and our daughter ended up not being as terrible as it could have been. In fact, it was actually rather pleasant. Mickey and a blonde guy I assumed to be his boyfriend or secret lover made a brief appearance to inform us they would be upstairs. Mickey gave me a look that conveyed how badly he would hurt me if I gave him a reason. The male that had been with him gave me a flirty smile before taking a biscuit off my plate and following Mickey up the stairs. I was actually very pleased to be able to spend time with Mandy and Katerina without interruption. If I concentrated really hard it was almost enough to make me think the three of us had a chance of being a real family.

After dinner we all sat together in the living room and watched Beauty and the Beast. Apparently that was Kattie's favorite movie of all time. It wasn't long before she fell asleep which left Mandy and I alone together. I probably should have left and yet I didn't. I wasn't quite ready to leave yet. A part of me wanted to keep pretending that we could stay like this forever even though deep down I knew that was not possible. Eventually I would have to reenter the real world where Mandy hated me and was in a relationship with the same man who had once been infatuated with my sister.

"Mandy, were you an alcoholic?" The question left my lips before I had any time to think on it. "When we were at the Alibi Kevin didn't want to serve you and the reason he would do that was if he thought it could put you in any kind of danger. He never was one to turn down money."

My ex sighed before twisting her head around in order to meet my eyes. At first I did not know if she was going to reply or not, but much to my delight she did, even though the answer was not the one I had been hoping for. "After Kat was born I fell in to a depression. They call it postpartum depression. No matter what I did I just couldn't pull myself out of the slump. I wouldn't even look at Katerina let alone hold her. It was not long after that when I started drinking. At first it was only a glass of wine or two in the evening, but then it was a _bottle _of wine or two a day and then that doubled and then tripled. One day it got so bad I ended up blacking out. Mickey tells me that I had alcohol poisoning and was in a coma for three days. After I finally woke up I admitted myself in to a rehab center for treatment. I wanted to be the kind of mother Kat could be proud of."

"I'm sorry it was so bad for you." I replied honestly because I had no idea what I should be saying. If I had been here would I have been able to stop her from spiraling so far? "I am not surprised that you were able to quit. It takes a strong person to get sober and you have always been strong."

Mandy shrugged before looking away. "I had to be Lip. After you left and I found out that I was pregnant I had something to live for. I had a daughter who needed me, but then she was born and I just felt lost. I had no idea how I was going to raise her alone. Sure I had Mickey, but I was so young and in my last year of school. I had no job which meant no money. My parents wanted nothing more to do with me and kicked me out. I didn't even have you in my life to lean on. It was either be strong or give up and for the sake of my daughter I knew I wouldn't be able to give up. She did not have a father and I would be damned before I left her motherless as well."

Her comment was harsher than any slap she ever could have given me and I deserved it. "Why did you keep her? If things were so hard why didn't you just abort or give her up for adoption? You hate me so much and keeping our daughter is like a constant reminder of me. Why would you put yourself through all of that?"

"Why should I have punished our daughter when she did nothing wrong? I couldn't do that to her no matter how much I hated you." She whispered and I could hear her voice quivering.

"I am glad that you kept her Mandy." I said truthfully. "I know I don't deserve to be her father, but I am willing to show you that I can be a good dad. I won't be like Frank or your father. I want to be better than that. Even if you marry Tony and hate me for the rest of your life, I will still do whatever it takes to prove to both you and our daughter that I can be a better man."

"You don't owe me anything and even if you did I don't want it." Mandy told me bluntly as she stood up and took the movie out of the DVD player. "I won't stop you from being in Katerina's life because she wants to know you, but that is where anything that may have been between us ends Lip. We are never going to be friends and we are never going to get back together. I've made a good life for us despite everything and I want it to stay that way."

I nodded in agreement being careful not to say anything that may cause an argument. "I understand that Mandy, I really do. I won't interfere in your personal life. I shouldn't have done it when I found out about you and Tony I guess I was just surprised is all. The last I knew he was still pining over my sister. When and how did that change?"

Mandy smirked before letting out a sigh. 'It's a long and complicated story that will have to wait for another day. I actually need to head to bed. I have to work tomorrow."

"Oh…" I was a tad disappointed, but at least I had gotten to spend some time with her. "Since tomorrow is Saturday I was wondering if it would be alright to take Kattie over to my place. Deb wants to see her as I am sure Fiona does."

"I guess that would be alright as long as she agrees to it." She stated before walking me to the front door. "I'll drop her off around seven and pick her up at 5:30."

TBC…

**AN: This chapter is just basically Mandy and Lip trying to find even ground. Let me know what you thought and if you liked it or not.**

**Please R&R like always!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own anyone or anything from Shameless!**

True to her word, Mandy dropped our daughter off a little before seven in the morning. I had been up for hours trying to make sure that the apartment was completely kid friendly. You would think that with all of my siblings I would have done this sooner, but honestly us Gallagher kids were made of some pretty tough stuff and so I never really worried about any of my brothers or sisters. Kattie was my daughter and I think I was allowed to be worried. Besides, I wanted everything to be absolutely perfect. I would not let anything fuck this up because Mandy was given me a second chance and I knew if something happened I wouldn't be getting a third chance. So after making the entire house safe I sat down Carl to have a talk about his behavior for the day.

"No explosives, knives, bats, or drugs of any kind are to be on your persons while Katerina is here." I told him watching as he made a face similar to the expression he would probably be wearing if I were slowly stabbing him death. Sadly, he would probably prefer a slow stabbing to having to be on his best behavior for one whole day. "No R-rated movies, no booze, and if I catch you cussing I'll have Frank cut your tongue out. Do you understand or am I going to have to lock you in a closet?"

My brother rolled his eyes. "I won't be here anyways. Hank Jr. and I are going to camp out in front the E. R. all bloody after we beat each other up. We are hoping that some suckers will feel bad for us and give us their pain killers."

I nodded before slapping him on the shoulder. "Alright well have fun and if you get anything good let me know and I will see if I can find some buyers."

After I had said that there was a knock on the door before Mandy entered holding an energetic Katerina. "I know I came a little earlier than planned, but she has been up since five and she wouldn't stop babbling about all the stuff you were going to do with her today. I have to get to work, but I'll be back to pick her up around 5:30. I'll pick up dinner at the diner and if you want you can come back t my place and eat with us."

I was getting invited over for dinner? This was a great first step in the right direction. "That sounds good Mandy."

"You have a good time with Lip sweetheart." She kissed our daughter on the forehead before handing her over to me. "Don't let her have too much sugar Lip, no matt how much she begs and she will beg. There will probably even be tears involved, but you have to remain firm with her because once you give in there is no going back. Stay tough and if she needs a nap please don't let her sleep more than two hours or she will be up all night long and if that happens I will drag your ass to our house so _you _can watch her while I get some sleep."

I smiled as she headed out the door. It was messed up, but this had to be the first conversation we'd shared since I came home that didn't involve screaming. Mandy and I had actually managed to somehow get along for the sake of our daughter. Hopefully that meant there was hope for us to be friends again. Of course I wanted to be more, but friends seemed like the best possible option for the time being.

"So baby girl, what did you want to do today?" I questioned as I set her down on the kitchen table. "Have you had breakfast yet? If you are hungry we have cereal or I could make you pancakes. Do you like your pancakes in shapes?"

"I already ate." She told me hopping off the table with a smile before grabbing my hand and pulling me towards the living room. "In my backpack I brought all of my photo albums so that you could see pictures of when I was a little. Do you want to see them?"

"Sure." I replied sitting down on the couch next to her. "Have you seen our photo albums? I am sure that your aunt Fiona has shown you already since she shows everyone, but if for some reason she hasn't, I would love to show you. I think I have some pictures of your mother and me when we were dating."

I made sure not to mention the NC17 pictures I had of myself and Mandy in my wallet. I had kept them even when we had broken up. Sometimes I still even looked at them, not that I would ever tell Mandy that I wanted to keep all of my appendages. I wondered if Mandy still had her copy of the pictures. If she did, did she ever look at them? It wasn't something I needed to worry about right now I suppose. I had to focus on spending time with my daughter because I have a lot to make up for. There was so much time I had missed and I needed to start catching up on that missed time.

"I want to look at them again." Katerina told me with that bright smile that reminded me so much of Mandy's back when we were dating. "Can we watch the Wiggles first? I love the Wiggles so much! Mommy said that the theme for my birthday can even be the Wiggles. Do you want come to my party? It's in two weeks and all my friends are going to be there. I want them to meet my daddy."

Pride took over my heart when she called me her daddy. I wasn't sure if I would ever get used to hearing her call me that, but I know I would never tire of hearing it. "Of course I will be there baby girl and sure we can watch the Wiggles. Liam used to love the Wiggles when was your age."

TBC…

**AN: A short chapter because I wanted Lip and his daughter to bond somewhat. It would have been longer, but I feel like crap and so it was another short one. I will update when I can. I am trying to catch up on season three.**

**Please R&R like always!**


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not own anyone or anything from Shameless!

The Wiggles had just finished when Frank showed up out of the blue. I hadn't expected him to make an appearance and honestly I am not sure I wanted him to know Katerina. I have no idea if he had met her before, but I would be damned if I let his drunk ass influence her life at all. It would be better if she didn't know him at all. I know that my life would have been better without him in it. Hmm, maybe if we were really quiet he wouldn't notice we were here and even if he did, well it did not mean we had to acknowledge the fact he was here.

A few minutes later much to my unhappiness, my sperm donor stumbled in to the living room before falling down on the floor. He looked up at us and blinked a few times obviously trying to clear the drunken fog from his brain. His gaze stayed on Katerina as he suddenly got a look of confusion on his face. "Who are you? You're too young to be Debbie and I don't remember Monica having another kid."

To my surprise Katerina did not seem all that upset. It was as if this was not the first time something like this had happened to her. "Hi grandpa Frank. I am Kattie remember? I made you cookies for Christmas and you threw them up all over the tree?"

"Oh yeah, right, I remember now." He mumbled taking a drink of the beer he had clutched in his left hand. He turned his attention to me next. "Is she Karen's kid and when did you get back?"

I sighed not really wanting to have this conversation right now because he would forget it in a few hours anyways. "She's Mandy's daughter and I got home a couple of weeks ago. I had to drag you in off the curb, but I wouldn't expect you to remember considering you were out of it, high on whatever it is you managed to get your hands on."

"You got any money?" For a second I thought he was talking to me, but then I realized his attention was focused on my daughter and I saw red. Was he really trying to swindle money from her? I shouldn't be surprised, this is after all the same man who stole from his kids piggy banks on a nightly basis before we were old enough to hide the money somewhere he wouldn't find it. " You see, I have this friend and I borrowed some money from him a while back and now he wants it back, but the problem is I seemed to have misplaced it. If you could loan me a couple of bucks I will pay back as soon as I can. Do you accept candy in exchange for cash?"

My little girl bit her bottom lip in the same way her mother did. "I'm sorry grandpa, but my mommy says I am not allowed to give you money no more."

Frank scowled before he smiled as an idea hit him. "Well what your mother doesn't know won't hurt her. It can be our little secret."

"That would be lying." She told him with a look of anger on her small face. It was adorable. "Lying is bad grandpa. If you tell lies you will be like the little boy who cried wolf."

I was amused watching Frank get owned by a little girl, especially considering it was my little girl. "Yeah Frank, lying is bad and you shouldn't do it."

He glared at me before tossing his now empty bottle to the floor and then turning his attention back to Kattie. "Everyone tells lies kid; it's just a part of life. Even old 'Honest Abe' was known to stretch the truth and he wasn't evil was he?"

"Who was 'Honest Abe'?" She questioned widening her eyes.

Frank gaped and looked at me once more. "What are you teaching this kid Lip? Doesn't she know who the first President of the United States was?"

Man, I couldn't believe I was blood related to this man. "Actually George Washington was the first President of the United States. Look, if I give you a five will you go away?"

He held out his hand for the cash and I slid him a five dollar bill. "Thank you for your contribution. I'm heading off to the Alibi. It was nice seeing you again Kathy."

"I'm Kattie grandpa." She told him with a small smile and shake of her head. It was nice to know she could handle my old man. "Tell Uncle Kev I said hi!"

After he left she looked at me. "Grandpa Frank is fuzzy. Uncle Mickey doesn't like him, but Tony does cause he is always picking grandpa up in his police car."

I offered her a smile in return. Her innocence was refreshing. "He sure is something alright. Okay, how about we have some lunch and then go to the park? We can play there for a while and then go to see mommy at work. Would you like to do that? We can even pick her some flowers on the way there."

Katerina jumped up due to her excitement. "Mommy loves flowers! It will be a surprise and make her smile. I like it when my mommy smiles. She has a pretty smile. Do you think she has a pretty smile?"

"Yes, your mom has a beautiful smile." I had always thought Mandy's smile was beautiful because it was honest and not faked like so many women seemed to do in this day and age. "You have a smile just like your mother. At least you didn't get my crooked smile. Let's go and make some sandwiches for lunch and then we will go to the park and get some flowers."

TBC...

**AN: Sorry if this is a short chapter, but I got some really bad news from my doctor today and I just wanted to update this. Let me know what you thought and if you liked it or not.**

**Please R&R like always!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I do not own anyone or anything from Shameless!**

I have to admit that when I was younger fatherhood had never been in my plans. It wasn't that I disliked children, but rather the fact I had this deep fear of turning in to Frank and I would never allow that to happen. Having spent the day with Kattie showed me that I was nothing like Frank. One look at her cute little face and I just knew deep in my gut I would never let anyone hurt her including myself. Maybe I was made for this fathering thing after all. I mean when I first started dating Mandy I had never pictured her as the mothering type and yet she ended up being a great one. I should have known she would be since she had always done well at including my younger siblings and helping them with whatever they may need, especially Debbie. Karen had never cared to even learn their names, but Mandy had gone out of her way to bond with them since she knew how much they meant to me.

"What color flowers should we get mommy?" My daughter tugged on my hand to get my attention once we finally made it to the park where a bunch of different wild flowers were in full bloom. "There's a lot of flowers!"

Smiling, I knelt down in front of her. "How about we get her one of each color?"

Kattie nodded as she started to hop up and down due to her excitement. "Mommy would love that! Will you help me? My arms are to small to hold them all."

"Of course I will." I replied before standing up and walking towards a bunch of bright pink flowers. "When your mother and I had our first date this is the type of flower I brought her. She loved them so much that she turned them in to a little crown and she wore it all through our date."

"Mommy makes me flower crowns all the time." She told me while looking closely at the flowers before finding one she deemed acceptable and quickly plucking it from the ground. "I made one for Uncle Mickey once and he even wore it though I wasn't supposed to tell anyone. You have to keep it a secret. Mommy took a picture of him wearing it and hid it somewhere he won't find it."

Laughter bubbled up from my chest at the image of the tough Mickey Milkovich in a flower crown. "Well the secret is safe with me. Okay it looks like we got one of each flower so do you want to play on the jungle gym for a little bit or would you rather go see your mom at work?"

She bit her bottom lip as she looked longingly at the jungle gym before looking down at the flowers. It was adorable the way she seemed to be going over all of her options. When I was just a kid, Fiona told me I did the same thing. I always had to go over my choices and think about the consequences of each choice laid out in front of me. Apparently Katerina had inherited that particular trait from me. She had her mothers temper and that mixed with my creativity, well it made me dread how she would be during her teen years.

"Let's go see mommy at work." She finally stated after one more look in the direction of the jungle gym. "Maybe Tony will be there cause sometimes he eats his lunch there with mommy. Did you know I help mommy make cupcakes sometimes? She sells them at the diner and I get to help. I like to do the frosting. Maybe you can make cupcakes with us sometime."

"I'd like that." I replied taking her tiny hand as we crossed the street. "Do you want to make cupcakes and sell them when you grow up?"

Kattie blinked a couple of times before answering. "No, I will still help mommy sometimes, but I want to be president one day and stop all war and bad things from happening. You can ever work for me if you want to."

"It would be an honor to work with you madam president." I told her before picking her up when I noticed she was looking tired. "I think you can do anything you put your mind to."

She didn't reply and I realized she must have fallen asleep. It only took a few more minutes to get to the diner and as soon as I walked in, Mandy was there to greet us. "Lip, did you wear out our daughter? You didn't let her have too much sugar did you?"

Shifting my hold on Kattie, I followed Mandy back to the break room where a small love seat sat and I put the sleeping girl there before my ex covered her with a quilt. "Actually she wore me out. We picked you a punch of flowers and instead of playing at the park she wanted to come here to surprise you. When she wakes up I'll let her give the flowers to you as long as you look surprised. She was really excited about seeing your reaction."

Mandy nodded and rolled her neck. I could tell it must be bothering her and without asking first I went to stand behind her and started rubbing her shoulders in order to relieve some of the tension. "I can ask surprised Lip. When we were together I was always convincing even though I already knew what you were giving me for my birthday, anniversary, or any other holiday or special occasion. You never really were good when it came to hiding things from me."

"Like you did any better." I teased sitting down in an arm chair. "Since you get off in a little less than two hours, would you mind if I just crashed in here with Kattie until you are done? It would be easier than waking her up and taking her back to my place."

"That's fine." The mother of my child stated before leaning down to kiss Kattie on the forehead. "If either of you get hungry then just come out and order whatever you want; it will be on me. Oh and thank you for the neck rub. On busy days it can get pretty bad. At least I no longer get blisters on my feet. I'm glad Kattie had a good time today and if you want to spend more time with her we can talk about it tonight during dinner. I better get back out there. I have hungry customers. Feel free to watch tv if you can't fall asleep."

TBC...

**AN: So I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter. I would love to hear your thoughts as always and I need to know if you all would like to have more of Mickey in this story because I do have a storyline for him if you want to see him more, but if you are not interested then I will only write him when necessary.**

**Please R&R like always!**


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I do not own anyone or anything from Shameless!

The first thing I did upon waking was glance at the clock to check the time. It appeared that I had slept for a little over an hour and when I looked over at Kattie she was still fast asleep. I didn't want to risk waking her up by turning the television on so instead I wandered out to get something to eat and hopefully talk with Mandy for a little while. We really hadn't had a whole lot of time to just talk without someone else around. I hoped that it would go well, but I wasn't stupid and I realized that despite the truce when it came to Kattie, we still had a lot of shit that needed to be dealt with. The only reason we were even speaking and acting civil was for the sake of our daughter. I knew that no matter how civil we tried to be with each other for the sake of Kattie, if we didn't talk about things then it would just build up before exploding and if that happened people could be hurt, especially our little girl and that is not something I wanted to happen. I had hurt Mandy so much already and I did not want to do it again. I know that I can be a dick at times, but I was trying to put it behind me so I could look towards the future. I needed to be a father to Kattie she could be proud of.

As I made my way out of the back room and towards the kitchen, I could hear raised voices and so I slowed my steps Right away I recognized one of the voices as Mandy's and the second voice, deeper and definitely male, belonged to none other than Tony Markovich. Immediately my hands clenched to fists at my side. Of course he would show up to ruin a perfect day. I used to never have a problem with him, but that all changed once I came back to find him trying to take over a role in Mandy and our daughter's life that was rightfully mine. It was no wonder Steve hated the guy when he making moves on Fiona. The wannabe cop was a pain in the ass and I really wanted to tell him that he should find his own fucking family, but that would just cause problems between me and Mandy which may end up hurting Katerina and that was not acceptable. It would be selfish of me to push Tony out of their lives and since I was trying to not become my father, I would have to learn to deal with his presence. Besides, I doubted that they were going to last. He was much too tame for someone like my ex and eventually she would get bored with him even though she was trying to act as if she had changed. It didn't matter if she had matured or not, her taste would never truly change and Tony Markovich was not the type of guy girls like Mandy Milkovich went after.

"Lip is her father Tony and he has a right to be in her life." I came to a halt behind a corner as I heard my ex speak. So they were talking about me where they? Hmm, this could be interesting to hear. I may give me some insight to the current situation Mandy and I found ourselves in. "What did you want me to do? If I tried to keep him away from her, he was going to get a lawyer and fight for custody. She doesn't need to put through something traumatic like that and it is just better this way. You never had a problem with the rest of his family knowing about her and her knowing about them; what's the difference now? He's her father and she wants to know him. He treats her good and unless that changes I am not going to stop him from seeing her."

"I remember what he did to you Mandy." The cop said in a soft voice and I could picture the look of concern on his face. "I remember how hard your pregnancy was on you. Do you remember when your father found out and tried to beat you to the point you would miscarry, but Mickey protected you and was pistol whipped to the point he had to be in the hospital for a month? Who was the one who took you in until he recovered and you guys found a place to live? It sure as hell wasn't Lip. When Kattie was born and she gave you a hard time at night since she wouldn't sleep, who came over despite working all day to watch her while you and your brother got the rest you needed? I've been here since day one Mandy and where was Lip? He didn't care about you enough to call or write despite all the times you tried to get in touch with him. He treated you like dirt under his shoe and now that he is back, it's like you have forgotten everything he has done to you. I don't want to see you hurt again. I love you Mandy, I want to marry you and adopt Kattie, but you can't even say those three words back to me. I've given you time because I realize how badly he hurt you and I don't want to pressure you in to saying something you're not ready for, but I need some sort of sign to tell me that I am not wasting my time now that he's back. I need to know you still want me in your life and Katerina's life as well."

"You know the reason I haven't said those words yet." Her voice was shaking and I was half tempted to make my presence know, yet I didn't because it could cause more of a mess. I would just wait and listen to what was going on and if I felt I should jump in then to save the day then I would. "I want to be absolutely sure of my feelings first. if I say it now, you will always wonder if it was the truth or if the only reason I said it was because I felt pressured in to saying it. Tony, I care about you and you know that; why can't it be enough for right now? You have nothing to worry about when it comes to Lip. He is a part of my past and even if he wanted to get back together, it wouldn't matter because the fact is I don't wan to. Whatever feelings I have for Lip, whether they are good or bad, I can't let my feelings get in the way of Katerina knowing her father and you shouldn't let your feelings about him get in the way either. She has a right to have him in her life and i don't want to lose you, but if you try to make me choose between being with you and letting my daughter know her father, I'll choose her happiness over mine. I'm sorry and yet that is how it's going to be. Either you can accept that or you can't, the choice is up to you."

I stayed silent waiting for his reply. If he broke up with her now then maybe I would have a chance of getting her back and we could be the family that we should have been from the very beginning. I could make her happy, I had done so in the past and I could do it now if only I was given the chance. I know Mandy would be hurt for a little while if he left her, but she would get over him in time and I would be there waiting on the sidelines. Mandy Milkovich is the only girl I have ever been willing to wait for because she was the only woman I had ever met who happened to be worth the wait.

"I'm going to up and leave you and Kattie." I cursed under my breath when I heard the words that left his mouth. That fucker just wouldn't give up would he? Even when he knew he was loosing he just hung around like and unwanted dog at a butcher shop hoping for scraps of left over food. "I am nothing like Lip and when I promise to stick by your side no matter what, I intend to keep that promise. I'm sorry about my behavior Mandy, I really am, but in my defense I don't want to see you hurt again. Lip had this power of you when you guys were dating; he used you and never appreciated everything you did for him. I mean you're the one who got him in to college when he was going to just stay here forever and become exactly like his father. He was so angry with you for applying to different schools for him and I bet he never once thanked you for everything you sacrificed to make sure he got an education instead of just letting him waste his life. He never treated the way he should have and I won;t ever let him treat you in such a way again. You deserve better than him and I'm going to make sure you get it. Look I have to get back to work, but maybe we can talk some more about this tomorrow? I know you're having him over for dinner tonight and so I won't intrude because you were right when you said Kattie should know her father, but right now I feel it would be better if I wasn't around when he was. I love you Mandy and I would never do anything to hurt you. Try to remember that when he starts making promises we both know he will never keep."

There was no more conversation after that and I took it to mean he had gone back to work. I went back in to the room my daughter lay sleeping since I was extremely angry and knew it wouldn't be a smart move to try and talk to my ex right now when we were both so obviously emotional. I couldn't believe the things Tony had said. He didn't know a fucking thing about me and to act as if he did, well it pissed me the fuck off. I would show him how wrong he was. I would be the father I was meant to be and eventually Mandy would realize the only reason she was with him in the first place was because she had been trying to forget me. I still loved her and I loved my daughter, I wasn't going to let Tony Markovich fuck that up for me. I would get my family back and if I had to, I was willing to use dirty rotten tactics in order to do so. Nobody messed with a Gallagher and for good reason. He was about to learn that the hard way.

TBC...

**AN: Hey everyone, I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter and as usual I would love to hear your thoughts. I thought it would be good to show some Tony and Mandy and how Tony is handling Lip and his return.**

**Please R&R like always!**


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I do not own anyone or anything from Shameless!

When it was finally time for Mandy to get off work, our daughter had just woken up as if she had known it was time to go home for dinner, Of course she was still exhausted so I offered to to carry her on the walk back to Mandy's place. My ex, even though she looked dead on her feet smiled and laughed as our daughter chatted nonstop about everything we had done that day and was sure to add as much detail as someone her age could in order to make sure her mother got a good mental picture of said events. My little girl sure had a way with words and I had no doubt in my mind she would be literary genius in a couple of years. If her plan of becoming President didn't pan out then she could be heck of a writer with her imagination and descriptive words some adults didn't even know how to say let alone what they meant.

By the time we finally arrived at the house, Mandy told Kattie to go wash up for dinner while she set out the plates and started pasta. Since I was trying to prove to Mandy I had matured, I decided to take the plates from her and set the table while she started dinner. She had been working all day long and it was the least I could do. Wow, so I did have a kind bone in my body, who would have ever thought that would happen? Maybe being a father was maturing me, which again, not something most people would ever believe and that included me.

"She really had a good time with you today Lip. I haven't seen her this happy in a while. You're good for her." Mandy smiled slightly as she looked at me before turning back towards the stove. "She is good for you too, I can see it in the way you act with her. I always thought you would make a wonderful father and even though we've had a rough start, I am being proven right."

I nodded because in all honesty I wasn't sure what I should say in response to that. I was glad she thought I was doing a good job with Kattie. As long as I kept this up I was sure I would be allowed to see Kattie and hopefully with the more time I spent with Mandy, the more she would come to see her feelings for me were not gone, but rather hidden somewhere in fear of showing itself and risk getting hurt once again. Time would be needed to get the desired results, but I was sure with a bit of patience things would turn out exactly as I wanted them to.

While I was still contemplating on what I should say next, Mandy spoke for a second time before I even had the chance to open my mouth. "I know you saw the argument I had with Tony this afternoon. You never have been good at pulling off the fine art of being stealthy; a blind elephant makes less noise than you do. I know you want to say something so you may as well go ahead and get it over with because I'm tired and don't have the energy to try and drag it out of you tonight, but I know if you don't say whatever is on your mind right now it will only come up later and probably at the most inconvenient of times."

She did have a point. If I refused to have this conversation now then I would end up spitting it out during an argument or something and that would only make it worse, a thousand times worse, so my best bet was to get it out in the open now rather than risk it coming out later when I couldn't control the flow of words coming from my mouth. Hopefully this would not get her to upset, but with Mandy you never know. There were times when she would act like a normal girl and then at other times she would react exactly the opposite of how others would; talking to my ex could be a lot like playing Russian roulette in the sense one wrong turn and you could end up dead.

"You were right, I heard your discussion and I know this is none of my business, but I don't like how he was talking to you." Since the table was set I turned around and leaned against the table carefully while watching her every move. Body language could tell you a lot if you knew what to look for. "I get that the two of you are dating, but he has no right to pressure you in to doing or saying something you're not ready for. I may have been an ass when we were together, but I never did anything like that. You have a right to live your life the way you choose. Do you love him? I'm not asking to cause trouble or anything like that; I'm asking because if you do love him then you should tell him. It kills me to say this, but it is obvious he cares about you and despite how much I want to poke his eyes out for even looking at you, he is a pretty decent guy or at least he was while pining after my sister. I never thought I would wish for the good old days when he was obsessed with Fiona, but I do. On the other hand, if you don't love him then you need to tell him so and figure out what you want Mandy. I know you want the best possible life for Kattie, yet that does not mean you should give up your happiness to achieve hers. Our daughter is a bright little girl and she feels your pain; if you are unhappy then she is as well."

Rolling her neck, she let out a deep sigh before raising her gaze to meet mine. "I do care about Tony, he really is a sweet guy and he has treated me better than anyone else ever has. He is perfect in almost every single way and any woman would be lucky to have him in their life-"

When she trailed off I knew I had to prompt her to continue. "I sense a but in there somewhere. You can talk to me Mandy, we used to talk about everything."

"But I really shouldn't be talking to you about this at all Lip." She replied while turning to face the stove when the water began to bubble as it reached the boiling point. "My relationship with Tony is complicated and I don't want to make it worse by discussing it with you. I know you're only trying to help, but the truth of the matter is when it comes to you and me, well it will never be simple. We have history and Tony knows that; it's one of the many reasons I can't talk to you about this Lip. We need to try and get along for the sake of our daughter, but it can never be more than that, do you understand?"

I frowned slightly before moving to stand next to her as she leaned against the counter waiting for the noodles to soften. "Do you want me to be honest Mandy? In a way I do understand why you feel that way and I'll respect your wishes because it's the least I can do, but the truth is I don't agree with you. In fact, I think it is completely stupid. we used to be friends and I realize that I was the one to fuck everything up and yet everyone makes mistakes, especially us. I'm not saying this to piss you off since that's the last thing I want to do, but I won't stand here and lie to you.I hate the idea of you with Tony because I still care about you; the truth is I have always cared about you and it had been my intention all along to come back and pick up where we left off. It was selfish of me to think in such a way I know, and the fact you have moved on hurts more than anything has before and I am going to have to live with my fuck up forever, but that doesn't mean you should have to as well."

"Who said I wasn't?" She shot back and before I could say anything in reply we moved closer like magnets unable to fight the pull as our lips meant. I knew it was wrong and yet if felt so right and I had no plans of stopping anytime soon. Kissing my ex made me remember how good we had been together and how good we could be again if I played my cards right.

TBC...

**AN: This is just a short chapter and I am sorry if it sucks, but I have a lot going on right now. I will try to do better in the future guys I promise.**

**Please R&R like always!**


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I do not own anyone or anything from Shameless!

Kissing Mandy was better than I remembered and I wondered if maybe it was because I knew that we probably shouldn't be kissing and that fact made it more exciting. It was probably the forbidden fruit aspect of our kiss that made it so good or it could be that it had been so long I had forgotten what it felt like. Perhaps every kiss I'd ever shared with her had felt like this, but I never realized because I took it for granted by thinking that it would always be there, that she would always be there. I had never really appreciated Mandy when I had her since I had been wrapped up in Karen for the longest time, but looking back at it now as we kissed, there were so many things I wished that I could change and others I wished that I could bottle up to reuse over and over whenever I desired. I had missed so much and had nobody to blame except myself because it was my fault. I had been stupid and selfish and my punishment was losing the family Mandy and I could have had together, but had I really lost that future or was there a slim possibility of getting it back? If the kiss told me anything, it let me know Mandy still cared about me, even if she may not want to feel that way.

"Lip." At first I thought her to be moaning my name; it took me a few seconds to realize she was pushing at my shoulders while trying to break away from the kiss. "Lip, we can't be doing this right now. Kattie could come back down any second."

"So?" I mumbled still trying to clear my mind of the lust induced fog. As I ran my fingers in my hair, the fog began to clear and my thoughts were no longer jumbled. "Fuck, Mandy, I'm sorry for doing that. I mean, well I'm not sorry for kissing you, but, fuck, you know what I am trying to say. I don't want you to think I did that because I am trying to separate you and Tony or anything like-"

I had never been much of a babbler in the past, but right now I couldn't seem to stop the words from spewing out of my mouth. As luck would have it, my ex interrupted me mid babble. "It's fine Lip, I know you weren't trying to cause any problems, and it is as much my fault as yours. I shouldn't of let it happen. I can't believe I allowed it to happen in the first place. I have absolutely no idea what I was thinking; I probably wasn't thinking at all, yes, that has to be it. I wasn't thinking and I let myself get wrapped up in the excitement of the day."

"Is that all it was?" I couldn't stop myself from asking the question even though I wasn't sure I wanted the answer.

Mandy looked at me before answering and by the expression on her face I could tell her answer was not what I wanted to hear. "That's all it can be Lip. It can never be more than that, do you understand? I have just gotten my life together and if Kattie hadn't been born maybe things could be different, but Kattie was born and she is the reason I can't allow myself to get tangled in another web with you. I barely made it out last time and I just can't do it again. I have to do what it is best for my daughter and us, together, wouldn't be best for her because when we were together, it wasn't even best for us. We are not always good for each other Lip and I can't drag her in to that."

Her words stung like salt being poured in to an open wound and I couldn't help, but wince. "We were kids back then Mandy and I am willing to admit that we made mistakes, but that doesn't mean we were poison to each other; we had good times, we had great times when we were together as well."

"It's all in the past Lip and that is where it has to stay." Even though the words she spoke were laced with conviction, it was her eyes which gave her away. It had always been her dark eyes filled with emotion that gave away her true feelings on a matter. In her eyes I could see the wall around her heart, the one she had constructed because of me, was starting to crack and if she was not careful it would soon crumble. "I am in a relationship with Tony and I can't-we can't do this. I think that maybe it would be best if you and I didn't spend any time alone together. We can interact for the sake of Kattie, but that is it."

While I knew it probably wouldn't be smart to argue with her, I just could not seem to stop myself. "What are you so afraid of Mandy? If you were secure in your feelings for Tony then me being around should not cause any sort of problem. You still have feelings for me, I could feel it in the kiss and I can still see it in your eyes. You are still in love with me and that scares the hell out of you. it is understandable that you'd be afraid to act on those feelings, but it is also unfair for you to not act on them; it's not fair to me, it's not fair to you, and it is not fair to our daughter. We could be a great family if only you would give us a chance, but you won't and for the life of me I cannot figure out why."

A silent fury filled her eyes and I knew right in that moment I had overstepped my bounds. Taking a step towards me, Mandy balled her hands in to fists at her sides so tightly her knuckles started turning white. "Do you really want to know why? Well I am going to tell you why Lip and you remember that you wanted to know. Even if I still cared for you, and I'm not saying that I do, but even if I did, I would still turn you down and not because I'm scared or whatever it is you may think, well I meant I am not scared for me because I'm a big girl Lip and I have dealt with a lot of shit over the years so I know I can handle almost anything. I am scared for our daughter because she adores you and sure you act like you feel the same, but how long is that going to last before you get bored? Kattie is something new and exciting so of course you are intrigued with her and yet will that last? What happens when you get bored of playing daddy? I will be left to deal with my little girls broken heart and trust me when I say I know how it feels to have my heart shattered by a Gallagher and you are never the same afterwards. Look, I don't want to fight with you tonight, I just want to have a nice dinner for the sake of our daughter. I am going to finish up dinner so if you don't mind, could you go upstairs and help Kattie finish getting cleaned up? Oh, and Lip, for the sake of the frail friendship we have right now, please don't tell Tony about the kiss we shared. It would only hurt him and I don't want that. Besides, it didn't mean anything really, it was the goodbye kiss we never had that's all."

TBC...

**AN: A short chapter I know, but I still hope you enjoyed it all the same.**

**Please R&R like always!**


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I do not own anyone or anything from Shameless!

It's been a few days since I saw either Kattie or Mandy. Kattie had picked up a pretty bad case of the flu and Mandy hadn't want me to come over until she was better because she feared making everyone in my family sick. To be honest, I didn't really mind having to wait a couple of days before I got to see either of them again. The space would give me some time to think so that I would be able to clear my mind and figure things out. After what happened between Mandy and I, I was more confused than ever and I had no idea why. I knew that I still had feelings for my ex and after the kiss we shared a few nights ago, but I also felt guilty and that is not something I happened to be accustomed to. The thing that confused me was why I was feeling guilty. My feelings had nothing to do with the kiss since I could never regret that, but then again while I may not regret it, I did feel bad for putting her in an awkward situation; it was never my intention to do, and yet I had not been able to stop myself nor did I want to.

It was all Tony fucking Markovich's fault anyways. Sure, I had done wrong and I knew it, but while I had been gone he thought it would be perfectly fine to make a move on Mandy while she was vulnerable. He had taken advantage of her broken hearty trying to play her white night and since I new her better than anyone else, I realized that when he came to her rescue, she had clung to him. She had always been that way; her life had been shit and yet unlike Karen, Mandy tried to make the best out of a tough situation. She tried to believe that no matter how shitty things may become, there was hope for a happy ending at the end of the rainbow, and for Mandy, Tony had been that hope and it pissed me off because if anyone should have a happy ending with her it was me, even though I had been a douche in the past, i know that I could make her and Kattie happy if only she would trust me with her heart one more time. i did not deserve a second chance, but I wanted one and if it wasn't for the wannabe cop, I had no doubt in my mind I would already be getting that chance.

With a sigh, I let my head fall against the back of the couch. Liam was taking a nap, Carl was outside probably blowing something up or torturing some innocent woodland creature that couldn't run fast enough to escape his grasp. The others were out doing whatever it is they did and since I had nothing to do, I told Fiona that I would watch Liam for the afternoon; Carl had stated he didn't need a babysitter, but the truth was he probably needed someone to keep an eye on him more than Liam did considering he was always getting in to trouble for one thing or another. I had this theory he would either end up in prison before his 18th birthday or taking a turn for the better, he would enlist in the army since he would be allowed to blow shit up and carry deadly weapons.

Just as I settled on a show to watch until Liam woke up, there was a knock on the door and before I even had a chance to get up and answer, the door swung open and in came Mickey Milkovich who didn't even stop and instead came storming towards me before lifting me up off the couch by the collar of my shirt before slamming me in to the living room wall causing everything in the room to shake and even knocking a few things from shelves as they crashed to the floor. Knowing I could not possibly take Mickey on one on one, I did not struggle to free myself, though I did take my right hand and put it over the one he had wrapped around my thought and tugging until the grip loosened and I could breath once again.

"What the fuck do you think you're trying to do with my sister?" His words came out more of a growl and his fingers tensed threatening to choke the life out of me once more. "I have spent the last two nights trying to console her over whatever you did, but she just keeps crying. If i find out that you touched my sister or hurt her in anyway, I swear I will make good on my promise of beating the hell out of you before killing you in order to ensure my sister and niece are never again hurt by the likes of you."

"What the hell are you talking about?" The question came out raspy because of the hold he currently had on my throat. "I haven't seen Mandy or Kattie for a few days; not since she picked up that stomach virus."

His eyes flashed in anger and I could tell right away that was not what he wanted to hear. "Mandy has been crying for two days straight and most of it is babble talk I don't understand, but the one thing I managed to pick up through all the tears was your name and something about a kiss and betraying Tony. I told you to stay away from her and Kattie, but you didn't listen. The only reason I don't kill you right now is because I love my sister and my niece and for whatever reason they care about you and killing you would break their hearts, something they do not deserve. now I am only going to say this one more time so let us hope it penetrates that thick skull of yours. I want you to keep away from Mandy. There is nothing I can do to refrain you from seeing your daughter, but I will find a way. Mandy is finally getting over you and I won't let you fuck that up."

"That wasn't my intention." I replied finally getting away from his grasp. "I never meant to hurt her the first time, but I won't be kept from my daughter and Mandy is old enough to make her own decisions. If she chooses to be with me there is nothing you can do about it. This really has nothing to do with you or tony for that matter. I am going to fight for Mandy and the more you get in the way, the harder I am going to fight. If she really loves Tony then you have nothing to worry about, but I think we both know where her heart truly lies or else you wouldn't be here trying to scare me off."

TBC...


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I do not own anyone or anything from Shameless!

It was the middle of the night when my cellphone started going off and at first I was going to just let it ring because I figured whoever would call me back if it were truly important, but the longer I ignored the ringing, the tighter the small knot in my stomach got. I could feel something was wrong and I am not sure how I knew it I just did and that is the one reason I decided to answer the phone because if I didn't and something horrible had happened, well I would never be able to forgive myself. For all I knew it could be Fiona or one of my other siblings who needed help with something or it could even be Mandy or Katerina. The more I thought about it the more worried I became.

Rolling over, I grabbed my cellphone from the bedside table and clipped accept. I tried to clear some of the grogginess from my voice by coughing. "Hello?"

There was a bit of static over the line before I heard a tiny yet terrified voice on the other end. "Daddy?"

Immediately I sat up in bed when I heard my daughters voice. "Kattie? Baby what's wrong? Where is your mother? Why are you calling so late?"

I heard her sob on the other end and without waiting for her answer I started to get dressed so I could head over if need be. "Uncle Mickey went to a party with his friends and I was sleeping when I heard a big crash and I ran to moms room and she told me to stay there and I did for a while, but she never came back daddy so I went to look for her. Mommy is on the living room floor daddy and I can't wake her up. She won't wake up even when I call her name and she has an ouch on her head and it's bleeding. Should I get her a bandaid?"

"No, Kattie what I need you to do is hang up the phone as soon as we are done talking and dial 911. I am going to come over as fast as I can, but you need to call 911. Can you do that for me baby?"

"Yes daddy." She said softly. "Please hurry fast daddy. I am going to hang up now and call the 911 people like you said."

As soon as she hung up, I was out of my room and headed for Fiona's all the while hoping she was home and praying that Mandy would be alright. I knocked once on her bedroom door before entering her room and thankfully both she and Steve were decent and awake. "Fi, Katerina just called me about how she heard a window break and Mandy went to check, but when she didn't come back Kattie went searching for her and found her unconscious in the living room with a head wound. I told her to call 911 and I am heading there now, but I was hoping Steve could drive me so I don't have to run the entire way."

Steve nodded as he stood up. "Sure, I can drive you there and I'll be sure to break a few speed limits on the way."

"I'm coming as well." My sister said already on her feet as she looked for her shoes. "I'll wake up Debbie and have her look after Liam and Carl. I want to be there for Mandy and I won't be able to get any rest until I am sure both she and Kattie are okay."

I nodded in agreement. "Alright then, but hurry; I don't want Kattie to be there alone when the ambulance arrives. Fiona, I don't have Mickey's cell number, but I am betting you do or at least you know how to get ahold of it so I need you to get ahold of him and tell him what is happening and to meet us at the hospital. As much as I hate to say this, you should probably get ahold of Tony as well. I may hate the guy, but I respect the fact he and Mandy are dating and if the roles were reversed I would want him to show me the same kindness."

"I'll call him him Lip, you just focus on Mandy and your daughter because it sounds as if they are going to need you." My older sister stated as she picked up her phone, presumably to get in touch with Tony and Mickey.

I turned my attention to Steve who had car keys in hand. "I am going to wake up Debbie while Fiona's on the phone. I'll by the time you and Fi and are ready to go, I'll meet you at the car."

When he nodded in understanding, I turned and left the room to wake up my younger sister. I decided against telling her what was going on before I knew more since I knew it would only cause her to stress and she did not need to worry until I knew there was something to worry about. Hopefully everything would work out for the best and Debbie wouldn't need to be told anything.

I was terrified for Katerina and Mandy. I had never faced this level of fear before and to be honest, I had no idea how to handle these new emotions. If something happened to either of them I don't know what I would do or if I would be able to go on living. Before I found out about Kattie, I never really thought of having a family of my own, well I had thought about it, but never really thought I could achieve it, and yet as soon as I saw Mandy again and met my daughter, it was all I could think about. There was no way fate could be so cruel as to wave the possibility of a family in front of my eyes only to rip it away, could it?

TBC...

AN: I am sorry I have not updated in a while, but a lot is going on and my dad had two heart attacks in the last month which nobody saw coming. I will try to update more often.

Please R&R like always!


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